Black and Red
by IndigoBlueButterfly
Summary: Thalia is an orphan and, for lack of a better word, a street rat. After escaping a band of thugs, she did not expect to be so quickly adopted into the Phantomhive household, and she didn't expect to develop feelings for a certain red-eyed butler. SebastianxOC
1. Chapter 1

**So I decided to revise the chapters. Nothing much, just some editing to make it all read better. I realise that the beginning sucked really badly, so I will be editing chapters 1 to 8.**

**I still own nothing!**

**Street Rat**

My footsteps pounded on the rough cobblestones. Behind me, the cries of the men were growing much louder. If I wasn't careful, they would catch up with me soon. I turned a corner sharply, leaping over a deep-looking puddle of murky water – remnants of the earlier summer rain – and quickly vaulted over a broken wheelbarrow that had been left in the dark. It was piled high with all sorts of rubbish, and had probably been turned into a sort of local dustbin.

I skidded slightly on the slick moss-and-algae covered ground, but managed to regain my footing. I smirked and spun around, my foot connecting with the near-broken handle. The wheelbarrow tipped over, and began to roll, spilling rubbish and clattering noisily. I didn't wait to see if it did its job, but judging by the disgusted cries I guessed that it had performed well. Still, that would only be, at best, a quick deterrent. The more determined and more desperate ones would soon come after me.

If there is one thing that my life has taught me, it's that it's dangerous to trust people. Humans are fickle creatures who change their thoughts, opinions, and emotions at the drop of a hat. At least, if you're on your own, then you only have to worry about yourself. Other people just get in the way.

I skirted a corner and found myself bursting out of the alleyway and into the busy London streets. The feeling of emerging into sunlight after being in the dark, it was painful. I blinked twice to allow my eyes to adjust, and heard the angry shouts from behind me. Out of habit, I lowered my head, tugged my cap further over my forehead, and hunched my shoulders up. Several people shot me angry glares, but I ignored them and ducked easily into the streets.

Out in the open, they wouldn't dare to attack me. There was a constable nearby, and I had learned that they were easily persuaded by a pretty face (whether male or female, although female worked better) and a few coins.

I glanced surreptitiously over my shoulder, and spotted them just a few yards behind me. There were only three of them now, out of the eight that had preceded them. I couldn't help smirking faintly, and then making a left as though I was about to head back into the alleyway. Their steps quickened. I made another left and disappeared into the darkness.

A second later, they thundered past me, calling out insults and slurs. When I was certain that they were gone, I jumped down from the small niche I'd pressed myself into. _Idiots,_ I giggled lightly, and then I walked back out again. I made my way to a single scuffed, painted brown cab that had been loitering on the street for quite a while.

The cab driver glanced at me warily, his eyes narrowing faintly as he took my scruffy, street urchin appearance. "You don't look like paying customer," he glared at me. "Clear out. I don't give charity rides."

"How rude," I flicked out a shilling, and then another, watching in satisfaction as his eyes widened and his fingers twitched. "There's more where it came from," I pulled out my small pouch of coins, ignoring the pocket in which some aristocrat's wallet was now sitting. "How far would you be willing to take me for this?"

His eyebrows went up at the sudden display of riches. As I expected, he didn't ask about the origins. People like him rarely ever did. "I could take you as far as Houndsworth, kid," he eyed the coins in my palm greedily. "But it isn't a place for good children."

"Does it seem like I care?" I tossed the coins into his hands and hopped into the back of the cab. There was the sound of a whip cracking, and then the carriage began to move off.

After a moment, I leaned up and closed the window that would allow the driver to see me. Once that was done, I raised my head and reached up to pull off my hat. Once freed, my hair spilled over my shoulders and down my back.

My hair was white mass that slowly darkened to dark red at the tips. Because of this unique gradation of colour, I usually hid most of it under the hat. I suppose I could cut it, but I wouldn't. I suppose you could call it simple vanity, but I liked my hair quite a bit.

My name is Thalia Hawthorne. It really is too fancy a name for an orphan and a street urchin, but that doesn't really matter. As the great poet once said, _what's in a name_? On that note, Juliet ought to have had better things to do that simply leaning against her balcony and waxing poetic to the moon. Their whole story got on my nerves. Star-crossed lovers indeed.

As for names, they're just a bunch of letters put together and sounded out, and we all simply decided to answer to them. Who knows, maybe there's more to it than that. Names do have meanings, and words have power. My name means 'blossom', and I have yet to find out how that's supposed to be of any use.

I tossed the cap onto the seat beside me, and raked my fingers through my hair. When was the last time I'd combed it? Who cared? I usually went about the streets dressed as a boy, and no one was about to glance twice at a little urchin boy in too-big clothes. Dressing as a girl attracted all kinds of unsavoury attention from the wrong people.

Besides, trousers were far more comfortable than skirts, and offered more movement when it came to self-defence.

My fingers snagged on a particularly large knot of hair, and I winced. _As soon as I get the chance, I'm going to wash my hair. _I sighed, and then I slid my fingers into the pocket of my trousers and drew out my treasure, the thing those men had been following me for.

A silver ring sat in my palm, in which a dark red stone had been embedded in the centre. It was my mother's ring. She had given it to me the night before she'd died. It hadn't fit me, so I worn it on a chain around my neck to keep it out of sight.

I held the silver band up, letting it catch the light from the window. When I held it up to my face, the claret red stone gleamed the same colour as my eyes.

_Idiots, _I slipped the ring on and examined it in the sunlight again. It fit perfectly, like it was always meant for my finger. _Like I would ever give this up. _They could pry it from my cold dead fingers.

The carriage rumbled on, bumping occasionally when the road became rough. I exhaled softly and watched the illuminated dust drift, occasionally roused into storms by my breathing. Slowly, I felt my eyes begin to slip shut, lulled into calmness by the steady rolling of the carriage, and then I was asleep.

* * *

oOo

* * *

**No One's POV**

The carriage rolled over the road noisily. It was clear that the track had not been used often, and clearly not in a while. The road was flanked on both sides by low hills and higher, sloping ground. The sky above was grey and overcast, but not with rain. It merely seemed to be the default setting of the weather in this place.

In spite of this, most of the occupants of the carriage seemed rather excited to be in such a dreary place. "Resort, resort! We're on cloud nine!" They continued to chant this, and had been chanting this, for quite a while.

The occupants of the coach beamed round at each other. "It's amazing, isn't it Mey-Rin?" Finnian grinned at the woman beside him, a redheaded maid wearing comically large, round spectacles. "Doesn't it move you?"

"It truly does!" She replied back, with just as much excitement. "To think that we were invited to visit and spend time in her majesty's own resort!"

"Our young master definitely has his good side too!" Bard grinned.

At the front of the carriage, a black-clad butler smiled. "They're certainly in high spirits, aren't they?" He directed this question to the young boy beside him: the young master in question, Ciel Phantomhive, who was definitely not feeling the same level of cheer and excitement as the servants. "It seems that they are thanking you, young master."

Ciel scoffed and looked away, denying the compliment. "It would be problematic if we left them at the mansion and they ended up destroying it."

The butler, who went by the name Sebastian Michaelis, smiled to himself with some amusement. "Indeed," he agreed. Just then, they reached a dirt-and-mildew crusted sign that read _Welcome to Houndsworth _in faint black paint. A dog chain hung from one side, and a raven perched on the other. It cawed loudly, warningly. Sebastian pulled the stagecoach to a stop and looked at the sign. "This is the village entrance."

Beside the sign was a large tree, which was bare and ugly. Metal dog collars and chains hung from the branches like nooses. On the ground, below the tree, were the grey-white skulls of numerous dogs that had been left there for quite a while, the flesh having rotted away and the bones picked clean.

The servants screamed. Ciel inclined his head towards them. "I forgot to mention earlier," he said. "But this is the planned construction site for her majesty's resort."

Their disillusioned groans were obvious. "Young master…"

Mey-Rin exhaled a disappointed breath, and then blinked when something caught her eyes. "Huh, what's that?" She pointed at a nearby tree. This one had no chains, but it was as bare as the others, apart from a branch.

There was something perched on one of the branches, though it was difficult to see exactly what it was due to the foggy weather. Upon closer inspection, however, it the shape appeared humanoid. Below the tree were two dogs that growled lowly as they circled the tree, but the figure didn't seem too concerned with them. After all, dogs couldn't climb trees.

Ciel blinked, and then looked away, on the verge of telling Sebastian to hurry up and continue. However, something made him pause. Was that person a villager? If so, he or she could be of some use. He turned to his butler. "Sebastian, get rid of those dogs."

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian jumped down from his seat and began to walk towards the tree. As he walked, he noticed the unconscious body of a man lying a few feet away in the sparse grass. The dogs, sensing a new intruder, turned to him and pulled back their lips in a snarl. Sebastian's eyes narrowed and glowed slightly.

Immediately, the dogs whimpered and cowered back, sensing that they were no match for this entity. The person in the tree whistled admiringly. "Whoa, I have got to learn how to do that!" With that, they hopped down easily. "Thank you."

Sebastian studied the figure in front of him. From the angle of the hat, he was unable to tell exactly what gender the person was. The voice sounded feminine enough, but the height (or lack of it, he or she was only about three inches taller than Ciel) as well as the lack of any visible feminine curves also meant that it could be a young boy. However, the manner of speech sounded a bit too mature.

He nodded at the person, shaking off his curiosity, and smiled politely. "You're welcome."

**Thalia's POV**

I tugged my hat further, shielding myself from the prying eyes of my saviour, and feeling a faint blush rise on my cheeks. He was undeniably attractive, with hair like black silk and eyes like rubies and blood. People used to liken my eyes to red wine. His eyes were even more beautiful, and they glinted with something strange and wild behind the calm exterior.

The bundle in my arms moved and I looked away from him. "What is that?" He asked curiously. I smiled and uncrossed my arms to reveal something black and furry, with small white teeth and a coiling tail.

"It's a kitten," I showed it to him cheerfully, feeling more at ease now that I wasn't thinking about how handsome he was. The kitten in my arm yawned, and her claws extended slightly. "I found her a little way away, after I…"

There I paused, because I couldn't tell this finely dressed stranger that I'd had to defend myself against my cab driver after he'd tried to steal my money, because then I'd have to explain where the money came from (answer: some rich aristocrat).

"...after I got off my carriage," I finished with a shrug.

He gave me a look like he knew I was withholding information, but didn't care enough to extract it. _I hesitated too long. Get a grip on yourself Thalia._ His gaze returned to the cat, and I saw the way he was staring at it: like it was the cutest, most amazing animal in the world and he really, _really_ wanted to cuddle it.

_No. We need to go. Say thank you and leave. _Instead I smiled and held out the half-grown kitten. "Here, you can hold her." _The fuck did I say?_ "I named her Morgan, by the way." _And now we're engaging in polite conversation?_

"Morgan…" he murmured, and in that moment I could have sworn that he was sparkling. "Soft, so soft…" he tickled my cat under her chin, and squeezed her paws gently. I had to admit, it was kind of interesting seeing a grown man playing with a cat, but also kind of cute.

_Cute? Cute!? Did you hit your head at some point? _This was not like me. I did not express attraction towards the opposite gender. I ignored them, and occasionally spoke with one if needed. What was I doing referring to some strange man as being _cute_?

The man in question suddenly raised his head to look at me, and his eye narrowed. "You're hurt."

"I am?" I blinked and looked down at my arm. Oh, he was right. There was blood seeping out and staining the white fabric of the shirt I was wearing. I shrugged, ignoring the pain that had suddenly decided to make itself known. "Oh, the guy who owned the dogs had a knife. He must have landed a cut before I knocked him down."

He handed me back my cat – with some noticeable reluctance – and bowed slightly at the waist. I recoiled when he did that, what was he doing bowing to someone like me? "Then, would you permit us the pleasure of your company?"

_No. _I arched an eyebrow at the sudden invitation. "Don't bother," I kept my face lowered. "You don't have to drag me anywhere. You already scared those dogs away. Anyway," I turned to leave. "I'm sure you wouldn't want someone like me anywhere near your carriage." After all, he'd more or less plucked me off the road (or tree, if we're being completely literal).

I had only taken two steps in the other direction when arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and I found myself being carried. His eyes gleamed wickedly, and there was the beginning of a smirk on his lips. "It was less of a question, and more of a polite order."

"What the-?! Hey, let go of me!" I struggled in his arms, mindful of the cat I was still holding, but it was no use. His grip on me was like iron, and I got the feeling that even if I had been fighting with maximum strength, I still wouldn't have been able to escape. Still, I tried. "Put me down you bastard! Oi, are you fucking listening to me?!"

Apparently, he was not, and we must have looked like quite a sight. He carried me to his carriage easily, somehow ignoring the pain my flailing limbs must have been inflicting. For a moment, I stopped struggling to stare at the occupant of the carriage.

Sitting in front was a young boy, he could only have been twelve or so, wearing a top hat and a black cloak. His expression was stoic, nearly emotionless, and he wore an black eye-patch over his left eye. His other eye was dark blue in colour, and it narrowed in annoyance. "Sebastian, what is this?" He snapped. "Why did you bring this boy here?"

The guy beside me – so his name was Sebastien? – bowed at the waist, still with me in his arms. "This person has injuries, young master. I simply felt that we could assist him."

"And I told you not to bother," I snarled back, struggling some more. This time, I was able to jump out of his arms, but all my movement had managed to dislodge my hat and it flew off. "Ah fuck," I groaned, and then I straightened my shoulders from their hunched position and glared at the boy. "Well, there you have it: I'm not a guy."

If he was surprised by this, he didn't show it, he simply glanced at the butler behind me, and a second later I found myself tossed into the carriage. _This constitutes as kidnapping! _Wait, they were nobles. I was in a noble's carriage. There had to be something valuable around that they wouldn't notice! I huffed and shoved my hair out of my face, and jerked as the coach started off again.

**Sebastian's POV**

The second her hair came down, a delicious scent flooded my nose. How had I missed it? What was this? It smelled…sweet, ridiculously so. It made me think of fine wine that had been left to age for years.

With the ridiculous cap gone, I was suddenly aware of everything that made her feminine. The slope of her nose, the gentle tapering of her fingers, the soft crescent of her bottom lip, coated with a glistening sheen over the pink. Her eyes gleamed dark red with flecks of gold, and some part of me wanted to grab her by her hair and yank her head back so I could see if she tasted as sweet as her scent suggested.

But all in good time. After all, we were here to work. Still, there might be time to engage in...other pleasures.


	2. Village of Dogs

**Second chapter revision!**

**Village of Dogs**

**Thalia's POV**

To be honest, it had been a while since I had been in such a plush environment, and without having to hide myself too. I'll admit that, at first, my eyes kept darting around for something I could take, but after a while it became apparent that there was nothing apart from the servant's belongings. In the end, I gave up, went back to scratching the cat curled around my neck.

The maid turned to me. She wore ridiculously round, circular glasses that didn't allow me to see her eyes whatsoever. She also seemed rather ditzy, and somewhat comical. "Hello, my name is Mey-Rin. What's your name?"

_Lie. _I smiled back at her. "I'm Thalia. It's nice to meet you." _What the hell, I said lie! _I frowned and turned to the boy beside me. He had large, blue-green eyes and blonde hair held back with red barrette clips. "What about you?"

If I couldn't lie and make a clean getaway, then I suppose I'd just have to integrate myself and earn their trust somehow. "Oh, uh, me?" He blushed slightly. "I'm Finnian, but you can just call me Finny."

"Finny," I repeated, and then I nodded. "Cute. I like it." He blushed more and ducked his head. I turned to the next guy, a scruffy-looking blonde with a cigarette wedged between his lips. I couldn't help grimacing faintly at the sight. At least it wasn't lit.

He nodded at me with a cheery grin. "I'm Bard," the blonde man on my other side said. He looked curious. "If you don't mind me asking, why is your hair that colour?"

My fingers flew to my hair, and I cursed silently. The one noticeable thing about me, and I'd forgotten to hide it. "It's a genetic thing," the lie came easily, the same lie I used whenever something like this happened. "Only the women in our family get it." It was too bad I couldn't get rid of the colour somehow. The last time I had tried to trim off the red, the tips of my newly cut hair had turned red again, like it was bleeding.

Their eyes widened and all three of them nodded in understanding, they'd bought it. I smiled a practiced smile, and lowered my arm again. The movement roused Morgan, who had decided that my neck was an excellent place to take a nap. She mewed and extended her claws a little way into my shoulder.

I winced at the ticklish sensation, and grabbed her paw. "Hey, hey, watch it," I put her on my lap and tickled her chin to keep her from complaining.

Finnian turned his head and continued watching the empty road. Suddenly, he beamed and pointed. "First villager sighted!"

This villager appeared to be an old woman, bent over with age, and wearing a drab, grey cloak. She was pushing a baby stroller slowly down the lane. I don't know if it was the mist, the grey, or my mind telling me that _no one_ in their right mind would take a baby out in this sort of weather, but something about that woman freaked me out.

Apparently, Finnian didn't share my opinion. "Tanaka, stop for a minute!" The woman had stopped as well, and was simply pushing the stroller back and forth, and back and forth, like it was stuck on something. Clearly overeager, Finnian jumped down from the carriage and ran over to her. "I'll help you, miss."

"Be careful, Finny," Mey-Rin told him worriedly. "I don't think you should do that. If you're not careful, the baby will be hu-!"

I watched as Finny accidentally lifted the stroller way above his head, as though he had grossly overestimated how much it weighed. Then he panicked. "Ah, I'm sorry!" He then slammed the stroller down with far more force than necessary. I sweatdropped at the clumsy display of strength, and then peered into the stroller while Mey-rin panicked asked if the baby was alright.

What I saw made my eyes widen in surprised revulsion. "That's not a baby."

And it wasn't. Inside the carriage was a skeleton of a small dog, most likely a puppy, swaddled in baby blankets and tucked between the pillows. That was when the old woman spoke. "You know, this little one was eaten by _that_," she said quietly. With those words, she walked off again, chanting quietly to herself. "_The small, white-haired dog is a good dog. The black dog is a bad, disobedient dog…_"

I stared after her with wide eyes. "Well damn…" _Well Thalia, we've made a lot of mistakes in our lives, but this one takes the cake._ As soon as we disembarked, I was going to grab a coach and leave. This town was clearly messed up in so many ways, although I should have seen that from the tree with all the chains.

Ciel stared after the old woman as well. "I've heard that quite a number of people in this village have been murdered or are missing. The population of the people here has decreased by a third in the last ten years."

"Then pardon my asking kid, but why did you come here again?" I twisted around so I could see him better.

He looked surprised that I was talking, but annoyed by what I'd called him. "I don't suppose you're aware of the Queen's Watchdog, are you?" He asked. I blinked once, and then my eyes widened in shock. "If you are, I'm sure you're aware of what we do."

"The Queen's Watchdog…" I muttered. Well wasn't this fantastic. Me, a low-lying pickpocket, and now I was riding in the carriage of one of England's most feared black nobles. What were the odds? Fortunately, I was small fry, and not worth anything. Well, I hoped I wasn't.

My eyes fell on the butler beside him, and widened when I realised that he had turned to stare at me as well. He smirked then, a slow curve of his lips, and I whipped my head back around so that I was no longer looking at him.

_Get a grip on yourself!_ I scolded myself internally, and then I heaved a sigh. Behind us, the old woman had disappeared into the mist. I watched her go, wondering, _where is she going?_ I heard her last words carried on the breeze before she disappeared fully. "_…it'll eat you down to the bone…_"

After a few more minutes of driving, we eventually reached…wherever these guys were going before they picked me up. Everyone else also seemed to also have regained their good spirits, especially when the town came into sight. "Ah, that's more like it!" Bard grinned widely.

The whole town still had this dismal air, but the appearance of less creepy people going about their usual business lessened it somewhat. We passed by a young man with a cage of dogs. He seemed to be training one of them, giving it a set of commands. The dog performed well each time, and at the end, the man hugged it gently and praised it.

I smiled slightly, ignoring the maid's squeals of appreciation for the man. I loved animals, dogs included. They were one of the few animals actually capable of feeling genuine love and affection. They were willing to do anything for their master, even if it meant laying down their own lives.

Or because…that was what they were trained to do.

I frowned at that depressing train of thought. Maybe it was the aura of the town. Everything here seemed so gloomy and grey and shrouded in darkness. I tied my hair up again, but this time I put it in a low ponytail and not a bun. I didn't feel the need to be taken for a boy here. None of them knew who I was.

Eventually, the carriage pulled up to a large, stone building, and a woman ran out to meet us. She had white hair, which partially covered one eye, and purple eyes. She was dressed in a white and purple maid uniform, and I instantly disliked her.

She bowed courteously. "Would you be the Phantomhive party?" Sebastian climbed down from the carriage seat and nodded curtly to her. She bowed again. "Welcome to Barrymore castle. The master is awaiting your arrival."

I didn't like her. I wondered if I was being a bit too early in my judgement, but something about her rubbed me the wrong way. Something told me that she wasn't what she appeared to be. Years of living on the streets had taught me to trust my instincts. If I felt that something was wrong, the it usually was. Even if it wasn't, it was better to be safe than sorry.

There was an aura around the maid that made me want to run for the hills, even if no one else seemed to share my opinion. "What a pretty lady," Mey-rin looked admiring. Finny…well, he had the look of a lovestruck puppy, which was a cute look for him. _Well, this isn't my business anymore._ With that, I turned to leave. "Ah, Thalia, where are you going?"

I turned and arched an eyebrow at her. "To find somewhere to stay," I replied as though it was obvious. "Thanks for the ride by the way."

For the second time that day, the butler grabbed me and spun me around. "Oh, but we haven't yet treated your injury," he smiled, and I suddenly felt like running screaming in some other direction. "It wouldn't do much for the Phantomhive reputation if we were to go back on our word."

With that, he directed (read _dragged_) me back to the door of the castle where the younger male was waiting. He shot Sebastian glare, and levelled me with a pointed look._ Scary kid. _The maid led us into the castle, which did little for my overall sense of well-being. It was just as dark and as gloomy as the outside and, when we got to the main room, I had to stifle the urge to either scream, or kill the owner.

All over the walls were the heads of numerous animals that had been hunted and stuffed. Large glassy eyes stared at me from every corner of the room, and Morgan yowled quietly. She curled herself tighter around my neck, and narrowed her golden eyes into wary slits. I stroked her gently to calm her down. And then I heard a whipping sound.

A man was attacking the maid viciously with a whip (where had that even come from?). There were cuts all over her body, as well bruises. "What's with this little Chihuahua?" He whipped her several more times, the sound echoing violently in the room. "I was told to welcome the queen's envoy! Angela, are you not even capable of something as simple as that?"

Here's the thing, I might not like Angela, but I wasn't about to stand by and see someone get whipped for no good reason. I moved before anyone could stop me, and grabbed the arm that the man was using to hit the maid.

He turned to glare at me angrily, and I wrinkled my nose at the spittle that flew from his mouth when he yelled. "What are you doing, you husky?" He snarled. "Get off me!"

_Does he just call people by dog breeds? _I scowled and tightened my grip on his wrist. "I'm sorry, but I don't especially care to do what you say." And with that, I kicked his legs out from under him and twisted his arm behind his back almost 180 degrees. In this position, I knew that he wouldn't be able to move too well. One wrong move and his shoulder-blade would snap. I turned to Angela. "Are you alright?"

Even if I didn't like her very much, she was still a person. People feel pain. No one deserves to bear the brunt of some spoiled, fifty-year-old child's anger. The man probably had some strange superiority-complex.

She stared at me and nodded, but I couldn't feel any relief. I forced a smile back, and that was when I heard someone sigh behind me. "Thalia, whatever your name is," Ciel spoke up. "I think you should release the man now."

Oh, right. For some reason, when Ciel spoke, I felt more compelled to obey. He was cute, what with the blue eyes, and the whole tiny-noble attitude. I let go of the man's arm and rose to my feet. Once I was standing on my two feet, I folded my arms across my chest with a huff. "Sorry. I tend to do things like that a lot," I glared at Barrymore. "People shouldn't treat other people like livestock."

He snarled at me from the ground. "Why you little-!"

"Just voicing my opinion," I lifted my arms in a shrug, and then stretched. "Try not to shift that arm much, otherwise it'll sprain." The man glared and reached for me, and then he winced. "I told you."

Ciel sighed again and I kept quiet. I don't know why, but I was beginning to like this kid. "Thalia, calm down," he turned to the man – Barrymore – and casually took a seat. "I take it the letter was delivered. I am Ciel Phantomhive."

Lord Barrymore looked both surprised and angry, although angry did seem to be his default expression. "Are you telling me that this Toy Poodle is the queen's envoy?"

Ciel wasn't even fazed by the insult. There was such proud smugness radiating off his form that I had to grin. "Are smaller dogs not acceptable too you, Lord Henry?"

Angela served tea while Ciel and the basta – I mean – _Lord Henry Barrymore_ went over some plans. As for me, I went to stand at the window because there was really nothing else for me to do, and there was nothing to 'borrow' (except for this really pretty pen I found on one of the tables). At any rate, Sebastian and Angela had the tea covered, and I had literally _no idea _what those two were talking about.

I finally turned when Barrymore dropped the papers and folded his arms. "This isn't even worth discussing," he said. "No matter what you propose, I am not selling."

"State your reason," Ciel arched an eyebrow.

Barrymore stared at him hard, apparently very serious. "The curse." At our confused stares, he began to explain that there was curse on Houndsworth that affected people who tried to steal the land. "Even if it were the queen herself, the curse would still affect her. A terrible fate will befall those who go against the Barrymore family in this village!"

"Huh," I muttered to myself with my arms folded across my chest. "What a coincidence. Against the Barrymore family you say?" _You have more or less admitted that you're the reason behind all the deaths._

Apparently, the tiny noble also shared my thoughts. Finally. "Oh?" Ciel smirked. "How interesting." Barrymore's scowl deepened, he was clearly wondering why Ciel seemed so calm and confident in spite of what he'd been told. "In that case," the noble leaned back in his chair. "I will remain here as long as it takes to witness this _terrible fate_ firsthand."

The sarcasm was evident, and I giggled at the look on Barrymore's face._ Well he looks upset. He looks like he's about to pop a blood vessel. That would be fun to see, if his head suddenly exploded into a geyser of blood and steam. _

I considered the image in my mind. _Wow, I'm having some seriously violent thoughts. It's probably because he's a bad person and I haven't eaten in a while._

Ciel rose, signalling the end of the meeting, and turned to me. His gaze immediately fell on my arm. Oh yeah, I forgot I was still injured. Well, it wasn't that bad of an injury. I'd had far worse. "Sebastian, bandage Thalia's wound." He muttered something else that I didn't quite hear, but Sebastian obviously did.

"Yes, my lord." Angela gestured for us to follow her. Sebastian walked over to me and placed his hand on my arm to lead me. I frowned and pulled away. The message was clear: _don't touch me. _If he was offended, he didn't show it. I caught Angela staring at us as we walked, and her expression wasn't the happiest.

My earlier reservations about her came back to me at full force.

She led us to a small, sparsely furnished bedroom, and then left us. "Please sit, Miss," Sebastian gestured to the single wooden chair in the room. There was sink in the corner, and a basin which he filled with water. All the while, I glared at the wall and mentally chastised myself for feeling anything akin to being flustered.

_He isn't the first attractive man you've ever seen,_ I told myself. The second he opened his mouth, he'd be just like the rest. Sebastian came back with the basin of water and the cloth, and knelt down in front of me. His hand grasped mine, and in a quick move he tore the sleeve of my shirt up to the elbow.

I yelped before I could stop myself. "What the hell!?"

"I'm sorry, miss," he smiled up at me innocently. "But it was either this, or you took off the shirt entirely."

I flushed darkly and scowled at him. "Just get this over with and let me go."

**Sebastian's POV**

Blood…

Demons love blood. The smell, the taste, the colour. The area of the cut had already begun to dry and scab over, but there was still blood on her skin. I wanted to lick it, break the wound again and lap at her skin. I would have, had my young master not ordered me to not hurt her in any way.

The scent was stronger now, thick and heady. This wasn't the scent of a meal, but of something else. I wanted her. I wanted to run my hands over her body, under her clothes and caress her skin. I wanted to see her eyes clouded in pleasure, her lips parted and screaming for me.

All too soon, I had wiped the last traces of blood off her skin and covered the wound with a bandage. She touched it, and looked up at me with a half-smile. "Thank you."

I forced a smile and got to my feet. She was tiny compared to me. Tiny, and incredibly fragile. "You're welcome, miss."

"Don't call me miss," she replied curtly. "My name is Thalia. Since you already know my name, you might as well use it."

Thalia. The name rolled off my tongue like silk and smoke. I nodded and she walked out of the room, the door creaking shut behind her. In the darkness, bent and picked up the sleeve that I had torn off. The blood on it was dry, but when I brought it to my nose, the scent was still there. I inhaled it deeply, and my eyes glowed red when I finally opened my eyes.

_She will be mine._


	3. Bad Dogs

**Chspter 3 revised!**

**Bad Dogs**

When I woke up the next morning, I briefly forgot where I was. After all, none of this was in my plan. I'd wanted to jump on the next cart out of this dead, godforsaken place, but I hadn't been able to. For some reason, that kid and his weird (but undeniably attractive) butler seemed dead set in preventing me from leaving.

I sighed and rubbed the crust of sleep from my eyes. It had been a while since I'd slept so comfortably, but I couldn't allow myself to get used to it. The maid's bed – I believe her name was Mey-Rin – was next to mine, and it was empty. The sheets were folded and the bed had been straightened. Irritation flashed through me – why hadn't I gotten up earlier? What happened to not getting used to sleeping in? – and then I shrugged it off with a yawn.

Morgan was lying beside my pillow, her face half buried in her paws. I stroked her side gently, and she purred in tired recognition, before curling further into herself. _Well, I suppose you're comfortable. _I stretched and climbed out of the bed, kicking the covers into a pile in the centre of the mattress. Seeing as I'd slept in the same clothes as I'd been wearing the day before, my outfit was rather rumpled. Who cared, though?

I pulled on my boots and frowned when I noticed how tattered they were. The tip of my big toe poked out from a hole the front. The walk yesterday must have really done a number on them. I wondered if I would even be able to find new ones.

The servants were in the castle kitchen drinking tea with Angela. I paused for a second in the doorway, wondering if I should even bother going in. After all, I didn't know them all that well, and they had no idea that they'd been sharing space with a pickpocket (if they knew, then they'd be a lot more wary around me).

Besides, if I came into the kitchen, then I would be in closer proximity to the maid. She still freaked me out; even if she did look like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth (never did understand that saying).

However, that decision was made for me. "Hey, Thalia!" I blinked in surprise at the cheery greeting from the scruffy blonde. Bard grinned at me and made space for me at the edge of the bench, which I took gratefully, if not cautiously. "We were just taking to Angela. Did you know that she's the only maid in this whole castle?"

I wasn't entirely interested in that. What I was interested in was not making eye contact with her, and also the tray of bread buns and apples in the centre of the table. "Huh, really?" I forced my voice to sound even a little bit enthusiastic as I eyed the victuals. As usual, no one seemed to notice my rather dispassionate attitude, which was good.

Angela ducked her head modestly and smiled at the tabletop. "I am nothing so grand," she protested feebly. "I do nothing but make mistakes all the time."

I twitched, and then plastered on a polite smile, temporarily diverting my attention from the food. "Oh, I'm sure you're not half as bad as you make yourself out to be Angela," I told her in a soothing voice. "After all, there are many young, able women in this village. If Barrymore needed a new maid to help you, I'm sure he'd get one." Her sickly sweet attitude was getting on my nerves.

"That's true!" Mey-rin beamed at me, and I started at the unexpected action. "Miss Thalia, you're so nice!" Clearly she wasn't sensing the sarcasm in my statement, but Angela did. For a second, her mask dropped and her eyes narrowed and flashed with something akin to hatred, but not quite.

And then the moment passed, she was right back to bobbing her head and murmuring her thanks. "If there's anything you need help with, please let us know," Bard said. "Since we're all servants, we should all get along. Right Finny?"

"Yeah, of course!" Finny smiled across the table at Angela, and I briefly wondered why I never came across people as cute as him. I gushed internally, even as I kept up a cold demeanour. Still, even if none of them were very good at reading atmospheres or people whatsoever, they were all clearly honest and kind people.

Angela smiled demurely at them, dipping her head a tad subserviently. "You are all so kind. Especially you, Miss Thalia," her gaze slid over to meet mine, I could sense the angry sarcasm in that sentence from a mile away.

I grinned back at her mockingly. "I'm glad I could be of service, Miss Angela."

The bell for the main bedroom rang, and she tore her gaze away from me and got to her feet quickly. "I'm sorry, but the master is calling me so I will have to take my leave!" She dipped in a graceful curtsy, and left quickly. As she disappeared from sight, I exhaled a quiet sigh of relief and snatched several apples from the bowl before anyone could notice. Once that was done, I picked out, a bun and took a large bite. _Food..._

"Miss Angela is so nice," Mey-Rin smiled almost dreamily. "I wish I could be more like that, I do."

"I think you're fine the way you are," I took another bite and tried not to talk with my mouth full. "Besides, I don't trust her. But what do I know?" I ignored their stares, and focused on my breakfast in the silence that followed. The bun disappeared quickly, and I grabbed another.

When I was done i.e. when I'd devoured every single bun in the bowl (god knew the next time I'd be able to eat that much for free), I decided to explore the castle a bit. I couldn't leave, seeing as the last time I tried to, that creepy butler had appeared out of fucking nowhere, and I was making it a point to avoid him as much as possible.

The castle was huge, and dark, and really dusty, so my curiousity was not encouraged by my sanity. Still, curiousity won out. I didn't believe in ghosts or spirits anyway, so I assumed that the only thing I needed to be worried about were the spiders (which were bad enough anyway).

The castle only seemed to get darker the higher I got, which was odd because it was late morning and almost afternoon. The sun should have been at its very brightest at that time. When I reached the third floor, my foot knocked against a raised part of the floor panelling and I toppled back down the stairs.

_Curiousity be damned!_ I clutched onto the wall, breathing heavily and glaring at my throbbing foot._ I don't want to die yet! _

Once my heart rate calmed down, I turned and jogged back down the stairs as quickly as I (safely) could, and found myself in a long corridor that I was pretty sure I had never seen before. I frowned and wondered if I had come down the wrong way. _Am I lost?_ I walked down the corridor slowly, shivering at the decorations. Like the study, the corridor was decorated with the trophy-heads of various animals nailed to the walls.

_Fuck, I _am_ lost,_ I thought as I reached the end of the corridor and found that it ended just there. I ran back and went back up the staircase I had taken before. When I reached the upper floor, I searched around for another staircase to lead me somewhere familiar. I inwardly yelled at myself (because there was no one else to yell at me), and tried to ignore the way my heart was beginning to beat faster. The lit lamps on the walls flickered in my peripheral vision, casting shadows against the carpet and walls.

_Red flames flickered behind them, throwing black shadows over their hooded faces. They were chanting something in low, moaning tones. "A lovely soul," someone was speaking, but I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. The voice was soothing and authoritative, but it only made my fear rise. "But it is buried underneath the filth, the dirt."_

"Ouch!" I hissed and stared at my burned fingers. My hand had gotten too close to the fire. How had that happened? The burn wasn't so painful, but I felt my eyes sting and my vision blur.

_I screamed as the metal touched my skin. The stench of burning flesh filled my nose, and the fact that it was mine only made me scream louder. "Hold her down!" The voice barked. "Don't worry," it spoke to me. "This pain you feel is only the purifying fire of god!"_

I was crouching on the ground now, shaking and trying to ignore the pain in my hand that seemed to be spreading. My eyes were wide, but I wasn't seeing the wall or the carpet, just the shadows and the flames.

"_Dunk her!" They dropped me into the vat. The liquid burned where it touched. I tried to scream and swallowed it. I coughed, and inhaled more, and there was a feeling of something being torn and ripped apart inside me. I was drowning. I kicked and panicked, and as my vision went blurry, I was yanked upwards. _

_They did this again, and again. I could feel myself weakening, but I wasn't about to succumb. I wasn't about to lose myself. "Do not fight this, Thalia! This is for your own good. Thalia!"_

"Thalia!"

All of a sudden, my vision cleared. I jerked and looked up into a pair of curious, blood red eyes. Sebastian. It was just Sebastian. I felt myself relax slowly. "Oh…oh, it's just you."

He smirked and crouched down in front of me like I was a small animal that needed calming down. "Just me? I am offended." I cracked a tense smile, and then looked confused when he held out his hand to me. "You burned your hand," he took my hand in his larger one and examined the burned pink palm. I idly wondered if it would blister. He tutted and turned his gaze back to mine. "How careless of you, Thalia," his voice was low and husky, even as he chastised me.

_Well excuse you. _I flushed slightly and opened my mouth to defend myself, but in the next second I wasn't able to. Slowly, never taking his eyes from mine, Sebastian lifted my fingers to his face, and gently licked the burn.

I choked on whatever I was about to say, and opted to gape at him in shock. He smirked and opened his mouth to suck on my fingers, alternating between them, sometimes taking two into his mouth to taste. His tongue slipped between the digits, and curled around them erotically.

Ladies and gentlemen, if I was blushing badly before, you can imagine by now that I was probably one step away from dying of blood loss to every other part of my anatomy. I couldn't help gasping when he sucked firmly on my pointer finger. _H-holy shit!_

Finally, he pulled back and licked his lips as though he had just eaten something particularly delicious. "There," he smirked into my eyes after sliding my fingers out of his mouth. "Does that feel better?"

My brain must have been on ground zero after that, because for a moment all I could do was stare at him in stunned silence with my eyes wide and my mouth open. I then stammered over something that probably wouldn't have made sense, even if I hadn't stammered it, and then punched him as hard as I could in the chest with my uninjured arm. A move that would normally have winded another person and sent then sprawling, barely made him flinch.

"What the hell, you pervert?!" I backed away from him quickly. "What was that for? Dammit, I _knew_ you were strange! I should never have stayed here! Gah, stay away from me!" I yelled this when he rose and began moving towards me. "I said stay away! Seriously, why the fuck would you-!"

"Mmm, but you enjoyed it," he grabbed my wrist again and pulled me closer, effectively towering over me, and gazed into my eyes. The eye contact flustered me more than I cared for, and I didn't like it. "Didn't you, Thalia?"

I snarled and tried to knee him where it hurt, but he stepped back just in time. "DON'T MAKE ME SEEM LIKE SOME SORT OF FREAK!" I yelled at him, his smile only got wider at my anger. I scowled and looked away, still cradling my molested hand to my chest. "I really need to leave this place," I muttered. "At any rate, would you tell me how to get back downstairs?"

He bowed mockingly at the waist. "Of course, _my lady_." I was once again struck by the urge to knee him in the stomach while he was still bent over, but I held my anger in check and simply followed him down a flight of stairs at the far end of the floor (how had I missed that?) and through another corridor. After a while, my surroundings began to look more familiar.

"_Meow~_" I beamed when I spotted Morgan slinking down the hall. I scooped her up and turned to face Sebastian. "You're still a freak for what you did, but thanks anyway," I forced the words out of my mouth and gritted my teeth when he smiled that infuriating smile again.

"It was my pleasure, Miss Thalia," He bowed courteously. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to attend to the young master." I watched him as he walked away and disappeared down another hallway. Morgan mewed in my arms and I snapped myself out of my daze. _He might be attractive and smooth, but I can't let myself be distracted by someone like him. _I didn't know why he and his master seemed to hell bent on keeping me around, and I didn't plan to stick around long enough to find out that it was something bad.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Understandably, I avoided Sebastian like the plague for the rest of the day, which wasn't easy I'll tell you that. That guy had the uncanny ability to appear if you so much as mentioned him in passing. A case of _speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear_ I suppose.

Unfortunately, by avoiding Sebastian I also had to refrain from doing things that would involve him. Things like trying to leave the castle, and talking to the young master named Ciel, which was pretty annoying because the kid was adorable even when he scowled at me and told me to stop trying to 'borrow' stuff from the castle.

On another note, I had made the terrible mistake of telling Mey-Rin about my encounter with Sebastian, and she had immediately spurted blood all over the kitchen floor. After we had cleaned that up, she had confessed that she too also had a minor crush on him, and then I'd had to explain to her that I didn't have a crush on him, and I really just thought of him as a strange and very creepy pervert.

She hadn't believed me. Neither had Bard, and the chef (apparently that was his status) had even gone so far as to _taunt _me about it. Needless to say, both Finny and Mey-Rin had had to hold me back from attacking him. Sebastian had then appeared, probably drawn by all our voices, and I'd promptly made my escape and sprinted from the room because, like I said, I was avoiding him.

_This is bad, _I groaned internally and stared up the ceiling of the bedroom later that night. Mey-Rin snored lightly beside me. _I'm getting attached to them, _I rolled over and pressed my face into the pillow. _I can't. I told myself I wouldn't and yet I am._

In the midst of my worrying, I must have fallen asleep. Sometime during the night however, I was awoken from my slumber by someone, or something, diving into my bed. Immediately, I panicked and kicked my legs free of the sheets. Some part of me assumed it was Sebastian, that I had probably been right about him being a creepy pervert and he was about to assault me in my sleep.

With that in mind, I grabbed what I assumed to be the person's arm, and yanked them close enough to twist said appendage at an awkward angle, and then pinned it behind their back. "Who are you and what the _hell_ are you doing in my bed?"

"Mmph! Thalia, it's me!" _Who? _I blinked, and then noticed the crooked glasses sitting on the person's face. Once I realized who it was, I groaned and released Mey-Rin. She came up with a gasp and a wince of pain. "That hurt..."

"It was supposed to," I flopped back down on the bed with a grunt, and crossed my legs. "Do you mind telling me what the hell were you doing?" I folded my arms across my chest and stared at her with thinly veiled hostility.

She shrank back slightly, and poked her fingers together nervously. "I'm sorry Thalia, but I saw something that made me think that you might be a little bit right about Miss Angela!"

I blinked and racked my memory for whatever it was I had said about the maid. The whole Sebastian thing had blanketed almost every other thing. _Oh yeah, I didn't trust her,_ I remembered the conversation that had occurred early that morning.

_And, as I recall, no one believed me. _I motioned for Mey-Rin to continue her story. I was interested now. "I saw her in Barrymore's room earlier, and she was letting him touch her legs!"

_...what? _The mental image in my head was enough to make me shudder with disgust. "That's just…wait, why were you looking at that anyway?"

She blushed and began to poke her fingers together nervously. "Uh, well, you see…I wanted a drink of water since I got thirsty, and I walked past the room. The door wasn't fully closed and I could hear him talking to her so I peered in and…well…"

_Ah, a closet pervert. _I snickered at her red face and murmured rambling. It was reminiscent of mine when I had accidentally spilled the beans earlier. "Whatever, it's okay. But, what does that have to do with me?"

"I just wanted to tell you since…" there, her voice trailed off and her eyes seemed to fix on something behind me. Her voice, when she spoke again, sounded scared. "The Devil Dog…"

I saw a shadow fall across the bed, and promptly spun around and ran to the window. Outside, I could see the glowing green shape of what looked like a dog running through the streets. _Is that seriously it? _It was smaller than I'd thought, just about the size of a normal dog. What a disappointment.

"Come on!" Mey-Rin grabbed my arm and dragged me from the room. Opting not to question the familiarity of her action, I simply followed her outside where I could hear the villagers talking.

They had amassed in a crowd outside the castle, and were murmuring and calling to each other in terrified, near-possessed voices. "Lord Devil Dog has appeared!" Someone shouted. "Who is it?" They cried. "Who is the bad dog?"

_I knew I should have left earlier. _"Young master!" Mey-Rin called. Not knowing what to do, I followed her and shivered slightly in the cool night air. Since I didn't have any other clothes with me, I was still dressed in only an inner shirt and pants. Indecent, yes, but I rarely ever slept in close confines with anyone.

There was a footprint on the ground, and it glittered a faint green in the lights. Curiousity got the better of me, and I knelt down beside Ciel to examine the glowing green print in front of us. "What is that?" I doubted that it was ectoplasm, the plasma residue that was said to be a leftover from ghosts. This was partly because I didn't believe in ghosts, but also because it didn't even look like plasma.

No, this seemed like some sort of glittery fluid, maybe phosphorous. I'd seen phosphorous before, and this resembled it in that it was glittery and seemed rather luminescent. There weren't many things that were able to glow in the dark.

"The Devil Dog appeared," Angela said worriedly, clasping her hands under her chin. When had she arrived? I arched an eyebrow at her, and rolled my eyes. _She was letting Lord Barrymore touch her legs._

...ew. I would not be getting that image out of my head any time soon. I shifted further away from her, and turned my gaze back to the small footprint. _It's so small, _I grunted. Ciel caught the sound and glanced at me. His eyes narrowed, and I got the feeling he knew exactly what I was thinking and probably shared my suspicions. _Finally. _I reached out and poked the footprint while Mey-Rin asked. "Devil Dog?"

"The one that will bring disaster to the village," Angela explained. "Those who have disobeyed their master will be punished by the Devil Dog. That is one of the laws of the village."

_Grainy, _I rubbed my fingers together, and glanced at the maid. I had to admit, she played the _pity-me-for-I-am-but-a-lowly-yet-obedient-maid_ act very well. Sebastian narrowed his gaze at her, and I felt glad that someone else wasn't taken by her obvious beauty and charm. And then I remembered that he had molested my fingers very seductively earlier that day, and I really shouldn't care what he thought anyway.

"Angela…" I stood up and wiped my fingers against my pants. A mob had already gathered, and it looked to be made up of almost every man in the village. They were all holding flaming torches and/or pitchforks and chanting silently. "…please inform Lord Barrymore that Lord Devil Dog has appeared."

I wanted to slap my palm to my forehead and groan, but I knew that this was not the time or the place to show my obvious disdain for such a backwards town. Angela gasped and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. "Who was punished?"

It was the boy we had seen yesterday, the one that had been cuddling with the dog he'd been training. He was bitten in several places all over his body, but most of the injuries were concentrated on his neck and chest. It had been a cruel death, slow and most likely very painful. I was not a stranger to death, or to gruesome images, so I couldn't find it in myself to flinch. Still, some part of me felt sad. Whoever he was, he hadn't deserved to die in such a horrifying way.

Ciel knelt down by the boy's body and took his hand. His eyes narrowed slightly. "I see."

_What do you see? _"Don't touch him!" The crowd suddenly parted to reveal Lord Barrymore, the one person that I _really_ hated right now (excluding Angela, but that was just serious suspicion). He stared at the body. "So, the bad dog was James?"

"Yes," someone replied from the crowd. "He broke the rule of having five dogs per person. It seemed he was keeping a sixth."

"I see," he didn't look upset in the least. "Then I suppose there was no helping it."

I choked on a gasp, and glared at Barrymore. "No helping it?" I repeated angrily, my voice rising and becoming louder, as I tended to get loud when I got upset. "What the fuck is wrong with you people? Someone just _died_ and you're discussing it like it's the weather? What kind of disgusting rule is that?"

"This village has rules set down by myself!" Barrymore growled at me. "Those who break those rules will be punished by the Devil Dog which serves the Barrymore family. I'd advise you to watch our tone, you husky!"

I was already walking forwards. "I should have broken _both _your arms when I had the chance! You're the one who deserves to be torn to pieces like the slab of meat you are! You're just a sick, spoiled, rotten excuse for a-! Mmph!" A hand came over my mouth and I was pulled backwards until my back hit a firm chest. I didn't have to look to know who it was. Luckily, it was dark and I was angry enough to not really care too much about my current position.

Since I couldn't move, I just scowled and fumed. "Miss Thalia, please relax," Sebastian said. I couldn't see his face, but I was sure he was smirking. "You're here as our guest. It really wouldn't do for you to act out so much." I scowled some more, resisting the urge to bite his hand. _It's not like I want to be here, _I grumbled internally, and then watched in shock as the villagers began to chant the same thing as the old woman.

"_As the cat meows, the day breaks. The small, white-haired dog is a good dog. The black dog is a bad, disobedient dog…_" they continued to repeat the chant as James's body was lifted and carried away. The crowd followed, still murmuring.

Barrymore scowled at us, mainly at me. "I'd advise you muzzle your dog, Phantomhive," he muttered. "I was so sure it was going to be an outsider who would fall prey," his expression said he clearly he wished that was what had happened. "It seems you were spared." With those parting words, he and Angela followed the crowd.

The anger that had slowly been seeping away, came back with his comment. "Dog?!" I snarled. "I'm going to fucking-!" Sebastian covered my mouth again until I stopped frothing at the mouth, and then he released me. I immediately put at least three feet between us. My eyes narrowed at their retreating backs. "We were spared my ass," I snorted and folded my arms. "He was just trying to make a statement."

Ciel shot me a look, probably because of my language, and turned back to watch the disappearing villagers. "You are rather perceptive," he commented, and I blinked. Odd, I never thought the words of a kid six years younger than I was would ever make me so happy. "James was a warning, to give us a taste of what the _Devil Dog _can do."

I nodded and tilted my head back in thought. _Glittery. Grainy. _I stared at the sky for a few seconds, and then I sighed and stretched my arms above my head. "Well, I don't think there is anything else to be done tonight. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to bed. Who knows," I shrugged and looped my arms behind my head. "Maybe everything will seem better in the morning."


	4. Devil Dog

**Me: Oh wow Thalia, look, you have an admirer!**

**Thalia: *blushes and covers face* WHY ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO ME? I AM AN AWKWARD TOMATO!**

**Sebastian: A very sweet, plump, delectable tomato *licks lips* I would sink my teeth into that**

**Thalia: STAY OUTTA THIS YOU PERVERT!**

**Ciel: Ugh, why don't you two just get married already?**

**Me: Because it's only the fourth chapter, my cute Tsundere! I don't own Black Butler! **

**Devil Dog**

Everyone was still depressed in the morning. Except maybe me, but I was usually quite in control of most of my emotions. Still, everyone being depressed was making me feel a bit off as well. Even Morgan seemed a bit subdued.

"Ugh," I groaned from where I was lying on the grass with Morgan on my chest. "Would everyone _please_ cheer up? This includes you, Morgan." She lifted her head and yawned quietly. "You're a cat. You have literally _no_ idea what's going on, do you?"

She stared at me out of half-lidded cat eyes, and batted my nose sleepily with a paw. I sighed and let my head fall back onto the grass. I heard footsteps, and Sebastien's voice. My skin tingled slightly, and I frowned. _What the fuck? _

I had stopped avoiding Sebastian after yesterday night. Why? Well, even though he was a pervert who had violated my fingers in a dark corridor, avoiding him was affecting my ability to chat with Ciel. Besides, after last night's events, I really wanted to be able to spend time with the Earl and help him solve this mystery.

"What's wrong?" I heard Sebastian ask. I didn't want to admit that I was watching him out of my peripheral vision. "You were all so lively on the way here."

Bard frowned. "Well, it's because, ya know…" _the whole Devil Dog thing, and the fact that someone died last night and everyone in this town appears to be possessed._

Sebastien smiled. His smile was doing strange things to me, even though it wasn't actually directed at me. Oh, wait, now it was. I quickly averted my eyes and pretended like I hadn't been staring at him. I was more than a little relieved when he didn't say anything to me.

"Have you forgotten?" He suddenly held up a picnic basket and a bunch of swimsuits. "We have come to a resort!"

"Oh, you're right!" Finny cheered. "We should have fun while we're here!"

"Are you coming, Thalia?" Mey-Rin jogged to my side. I groaned under my breath and got to my feet. Morgan hissed gently and scrambled to be around my neck.

"Yeah, sure, I'm coming," I got to my feet and bent slightly to dust grass and soil off my pants. Wow, I needed new clothes. I was wearing some of Finny's clothes, since I wasn't comfortable with dresses and he was the only one with clothes that could actually fit me. "Can we even swim at this time of the year?" I asked Sebastien curiously.

His eyes had been narrowed at me, but they went back to normal so quickly that I doubted if that expression had ever been there in the first place. "Why don't you find out, Thalia?"

It turned out that you _could_ swim in the lake at this time of the year. Who would have thought? The weather was always so cold and misty, but the lake was warm. _There must be hot spring somewhere,_ I thought as I let my feet splash in the water. Morgan curled up in my lap and I stroked her gently.

I watched the others splash in the water, and then turned to the changing room where Mey-Rin had yet to venture out of. "Oi, Mey-Rin, aren't you coming out?" I called.

She stuck out her head, and she was blushing. "I-I'm too embarrassed!"

"You don't get a chance like this often!" Bard called back. He shook his head like a dog and grinned at her. "It's fine, so hurry up!" She came out after a while, dressed in a white and pink swimsuit that did look very nice on her.

"Mey-Rin, that's a really cyte swimsuit," I told her.

"Wow, Mey-Rin, you look really cool!" Finny cheered.

"Really?" She blushed, but looked happy with the compliments she was getting.

"But I bet you'd look better if you took your glasses off!" Bard reached for her round glasses, and she panicked.

"No, I can't! Don't make me!" She ran away and began splashing water on them. I laughed, and the movement jostled Morgan who yowled at me in irritation and pranced off to find a more comfortable place to sleep. Namely, near our bags.

Sebastien turned to me. "Aren't you going to swim, Thalia?"

I turned to him and shrugged. "I don't really like swimming," I confessed. "Don't worry, I'm fine here," I got to my feet and kicked, and managed to splash an unsuspecting Finny. "Besides, I don't need to be in the water to cause damage!" I stuck out my tongue at the boy, who tried to splash me back. "HA! You missed me sucker!" I turned to Ciel. "What about you, Ciel?" I asked curiously. "Aren't you going to swim?"

He didn't seem like the _let's-have-random-fun_ type, so I wasn't too surprised or annoyed when he didn't answer me with more than a quiet grunt. Sebastien smiled. "Ah, I see. Of course, you are…"

"If you're still able to swim here in this season," Ciel cut the man off quickly. "Then it may have some merit as a resort."

Sebastien turned to him curiously. "Are you truly thinking of making this place a resort?" And that was when I excused myself from the conversation and proceeded to splash as many people as I possibly could without getting too soaked in the process. That didn't turn out too well for me though. Bard somehow managed to drag me into the lake when my guard was down and I got _beyond _soaked.

I crawled out of the water, dripping and sodden. "As soon as you get out of that lake, Bard, I am going to killyou!" I yelled at the blonde cook. He just laughed. Poor bastard, he didn't think I was being serious.

I flopped down on my back beside our things to dry off. When I checked to see what Ciel was doing, I realised that Sebastien had left. I felt a _bit _bad about starting the picnic without him, especially since he had cooked everything we were eating. I had discovered that Bard couldn't cook without blowing up everything in the immediate area.

The picnic basket was a masterpiece of baskets, and I'm just going by this because I've never actually really gone on a picnic. There were tiny cakes and sandwiches cut into triangles, and all manner of other snacks arranged in perfect sets. "Miss Angela, would you like some too?" Finny offered some to the white-haired maid. I wasn't too happy that she was here with us, but I didn't say anything. It wasn't like I really had that much of a right either. Besides, Finny in love was adorable and I wasn't about to spoil that.

"Is it alright for me to?" She looked hesitant. _No,_ I took a bite of one of the ham and cheese finger sandwiches.

"Of course!" Mey-Rin beamed and missed the quick glare that I shot her out of the corner of my eyes. "Sebastien's picnic boxes are really good!" _Yes, that's exactly why she can't have any!_

"They've caught the bad dog!" I looked up at the men running down the street carrying pitchforks. "It's James's dog! It's got to be punished! The punishment is going to begin now!"

We followed the men and rushed to where the supposed punishment was taking place, which was a curve in a hill shaped to form a sort of arena. The side was supported with thick, wooden poles to prevent rock or mudslides, or any other disasters of the sort.

There was a dog chained to the front of the crowd, and it was growling. In front of it were several other dogs that looked just as feral, maybe even more so. "The bad dog is chewing something! Make it spit it out!"

Someone approached the dog with a large stick and began to hit it. _No, don't hit it! Stop it! STOP IT!_ "What a bad dog," Barrymore shook his head with false regret. "It's a terrible dog. Begin!"

They released the other dogs, and those dogs attacked the chained one with savage hatred. There was something so sick about what was going on. It was there in the way the people were cheering, and the way so many dogs had been set loose on one defenceless one. For a second, I felt frozen with fear and shock.

And then I found my voice. "What are you doing?" I screamed. "Stop it! STOP IT!" My voice was drowned out in the demented cheering of the crowd, and for a minute, I thought I saw the faces of demons in all of them, and Barrymore was their king.

I tried to run forward, but Bard grabbed me and held me back. "LET GO!" I swung one leg high and kicked him in the face, and then I flipped myself out of his grip. Before I could run forward though, Finny suddenly ran past me and attacked the dogs with a club he had pulled out of the ground. In the crowd, an old woman – no – _the_ old woman, the one we had seen before on the street, screamed and fainted.

We ran to Finny's side. "Finny!"

I turned to face the crowd and snarled. "You sick, twisted, _evil_ people!"

"You got in the way of punishment!" The words ran through the crowd. "Of righteous punishment!" And then they began to chant. "_They're bad dogs. More bad dogs! They're bad dogs. Punishment for the bad dogs. Punishment for the bad dogs!_"

I groaned. "Not this shit again…" someone reached for me and I punched him in the neck, rendering him unconscious at my feet. "Uh, Finny, I think you made them mad…" I punched another one and readied myself for the inevitable onslaught.

"Thalia!" Ciel barked. "Stop."

I frowned and turned to him. "But-!"

"Don't worry," he smirked and watched the approaching townspeople out of his one eye. "I have a plan."

oOo

_Well this plan sucks,_ I growled to myself. Ciel was chained to the rock wall, while the servants were tied to a giant, wooden spike. As for me, I had my own chains. I was tied to another wooden spike in the ground.

Why?

Because I was special.

It was also because I knocked out several of the villagers before I allowed myself to be tied up. As I said before, _I'm special_.

_Where's Sebastien, anyway?_ I wondered._ Maybe he could get help. Wait, what am I thinking? Everyone here is insane and there's nothing around for miles but trees and grass!_

_We're fucked. _I am not the most optimistic person, alright? "You're getting what you deserve, Maltese," Barrymore glared at us. "You and that husky of yours."

"Master, I'm begging you," Angela pleaded. "Please forgive them!" _I still don't like you so much, but thanks for trying to save us anyway._

Barrymore smirked. "Fine. This Pomeranian is, even if it is only temporary, one of those serving her majesty." _He's been a Chihuahua, a Maltese, and now he's a Pomeranian? Could you please make up your damn mind?_ "Depending on what he has to say, I may decide to let him go," he turned to Ciel. "Tell her Majesty to withdraw and to never consider this village again."

Ciel smirked and closed his eyes. "You'd go that far to protect your little kingdom? It seems like the expression, 'furious charge' was invented for you."

"Ciel, you are _not_ helping the situation," I hissed and began to struggle. These chains were really very well done, and they were very well tied. I couldn't even find a padlock whose lock I could pick open with the pin I always kept in my pocket. Yeah, when you live on the streets, you learn to pick up these talents quickly. I had even grown the nails on the little finger of both of my fingers out for emergency scenarios.

_Come on, is there no padlock?_ I grumbled to myself as I felt around. My fingers brushed against something. _Oh, wait, is that…? I think I've found it…_ I twisted my hand as far as it could and began to pick the lock as fast as possible.

"Then," Barrymore said. "Know what happens to those who disobey me!" The dogs leaped for Ciel, teeth bared. I closed my eyes, unable to bear watching. Suddenly, I heard something like a thud. Something had struck one of the dogs. My eyes flew open in shock.

Sebastien was standing in front of Ciel, knocking the rest away like they were nothing. I exhaled a sigh of relief. "Oh, hey Sebastien," I said sarcastically. "It's nice to see you again."

Ciel glowered at the man like he wasn't chained to a wall about to be attacked and devoured by several wild dogs, and instead Sebastien had brought tea in five minutes late. "You're late."

"Please forgive me, my lord," Sebastien smiled, straightening his gloves.

"Got it!" The chains came loose and I ran to Ciel's side. "Ciel, Sebastien, are you alright?"

Ciel scoffed, but nodded at me. "I'm fine, Thalia."

I turned back to Barrymore, who was glaring at us with more dogs at the ready. "Are you trying to get in the way, you Garm?" He directed this question at Sebastien. _I don't even know what breed that is…_ "What are you doing? Go and bite all of them to death!"

The dogs growled loudly as I walked over to stand beside Sebastien. "What a loud, barbaric sound they make," he sounded irritated but resigned. Then he glared at the dogs. "This is why I hate dogs."

I looked up at him in surprise, and then gasped. His eyes were glowing red, and the pupils had narrowed into vertical slits. It was a sight that terrified me, and yet, intrigued me. The dogs immediately cowered, whimpering, and I was reminded of how he had saved me before.

A ripple of shock passed through the crowd at the dogs' strange behaviour. "Wh-what?"

"The farce ends here, Barrymore," Ciel smirked. I walked back to him and picked the locks on his wrists and his neck with a pin. He lowered his hands and gave me a grateful look, before turning back to the villagers. "Listen, you village mongrels!" He yelled. "There is no such thing as the Devil Dog! The only thing here is an old man bitten by delusions of grandeur and authority."

"Wh-what proof do you have?" Barrymore challenged us, but I could tell that he was nervous.

"This." Sebastien held up a dog skull. "The shape of the teeth marks are the same as the ones on James." Another ripple of shock went through the crowd. _I feel like I'm in a crime thriller!_ "Everyone, please bear witness…" The crowd looked up and there was a collective gasp as they beheld the dark shape of a dog's head projected on the clouds. "…this is the real truth behind the Devil Dog."

"So the shadow was just a projection!" I walked over to the small projector and crouched down beside it.

Sebastien nodded at me, and I was reminded again of his eyes. They were back to normal now, but I could still remember how they had looked before. "It was nothing more than simple child's play. The shining thing in the night was pure phosphorous." _Ha, I knew it!_ I cheered and mentally patted myself on the back. "He just poured the powder on an ordinary dog and let it go."

"The Devil Dog was an illusion choreographed by one person," Ciel said. "And that person was you, Henry Barrymore!"

"Wh-where's the proof that I did any of these things," he was still trying to wriggle out of it. It was kind of sad to watch, really. I watched Sebastien walk over to the bruised and beaten body of the dog, and return with a scrap of torn, brown fabric in his hands.

"It is high quality fabric," he commented, turning to face the crowd again. "Why do you suppose the dog refused to let go of it until the end? The reason is that it belongs to James's murderer. While trying to protect its master, it bit your leg and tore part of your trousers off."

He was trapped, and he knew it, and when he turned to run the villagers blocked his escape. "So you're the one who killed James!" "There was no Devil Dog?" "You fooled us all!"

_You all let yourselves be fooled,_ I watched as they hoisted the man above their heads and carried him away, their angry yells drowning out his pleas. Once they were gone, Ciel cleared his throat. "Thalia, do you mind?"

"Huh?" I turned. He gestured to the chains around his feet and I grinned. "Oh, yeah, right." Those came off quickly. The locks weren't that difficult to pick. Soon, everyone was free. "So…" I dragged out the vowel in the word. "This has been a fun few days," I smiled at them, and then I noticed Finny kneeling by the body of the dog.

He was clutching the dog to his chest and shaking. I went to kneel beside him and urged him to release it, and lean on me instead. He was crying, muttering quietly. "He tried so hard, so hard!"

I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling tears prick at my eyes as well. "I know, Finny. I know."

oOo

Once again, I was awoken in the middle of the night by Mey-Rin. Well, at least she didn't try to jump into my bed this time. No, instead I just heard her scream cut through my sleep and through dreams of cake and chocolate. Yes, I loved cake and chocolate but, due to my intense state of poverty, that shit was beyond rare for me.

A girl could dream though…

"Mey-rin!" I scrambled out of bed and sprinted in the direction of the voice, almost barrelling into Finny and Bard. We ran downstairs to the castle dungeon where the villagers had imprisoned Barrymore. "Mey-rin, what's wrong?"

She was sitting on the ground in front of the cell. I knelt down beside her and reached for her hand. She lifted a trembling finger and pointed. I turned and gasped.

_Blood…_ there was a blood splashed all over the ground inside the prison cell. The cell Barrymore had been placed in.

"You guys, stay here, I'll go call Ciel!" I left the three of them in the dungeons and ran back up the stairs. "CIEL, SEBASTIEN!" I shoved the door of Ciel's room open.

"Thalia!" He glared at me, but that seemed to be his default expression really. I'd like to think he was actually a bit worried about me. Sebastien looked up at me and arched an eyebrow in question. "What's going on?" Ciel asked.

"Barrymore's dead," I told him. "There's blood all of the cell floor, and his body is missing as well!"

Ciel gritted his teeth with anger. "Let's go, Sebastien!"

"Yes, sir," said butler passed by me, and I caught his eyes. I was reminded again of how they had looked when they glowed reddish-pink. I looked away quickly and ran past him. If he noticed the way I was staring at him, he gave no inkling of it, which I was grateful for. Still, I was sure he would ask me about it soon.

We reached the dungeon, with Angela behind us. She gasped at the blood staining the stone floor of the dungeon. "Master Barrymore!"

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone pounding on the door of the castle. It was raining, and I was confused as to what madman was out in such weather. The door was flung open, and a man stumbled in, breathing hard. "Lord…Lord…Devil Dog…"

_I thought we dealt with this shit already! _I groaned to myself. From outside came a sound like many dogs howling at the sky. I shivered, and not just from the cold.

The man led us to where the rest of the villagers were, and there we found the body. It was in the arena, leaning against the walls. Barrymore's body was more or less intact, apart from the right arm, which had been torn off at the elbow. His eyes had rolled up into his head. In the end, his final expression had been one of acute horror.

"Forgive us, Lord Devil Dog!" The villagers were kneeling in front of the body, apparently praying. "_The small, white-haired dog is a good dog…_" they started up that familiar, creepy chant that I had not gotten used to but knew by heart now. "_…the black dog is a bad, disobedient dog. As the cat meows, the day falls. As the cat cries, say goodnight…_"

_If you don't sleep, the dog will descend,_ I wrapped my arms around myself to keep myself from shaking too much. _It'll eat you down to the bone…_

The chant, the way they were moaning, the looks on their faces, it reminded me of _them_. I wrapped my arms around myself. "Thalia…you are shaking." I jerked when I felt something warm land on my shoulders and come around my body. Sebastien had wrapped a blanket around me. Since when had he been carrying that around? I hugged the fabric to myself and tried to stop shivering so much. "There," his lips were by my ear. "Does that feel better?"

"Um…yes, thank you…" I wrapped the fabric tighter around my body and stepped closer to Ciel, who was the safer person between the two of them. Said munchkin looked from me, to Sebastien, and then back again. Then he looked back at Sebastien and there was an unspoken command in his eyes.

I watched Sebastien walk forward to examine the man's body. Behind us, Angela gasped, again. She did that a lot, I noticed. Suddenly, her eyes fluttered and she swooned and fainted. I suppose I could have caught her, or at least alerted everyone to the fact that she was about to faint…but _meh_. I still didn't like her.

Wow, I am mean. Ah well…

Finny noticed, too late, and ran to her side. "Miss Angela!"

"She's fainted!" Mey-rin looked distressed.

"Oh no…" I said quietly in a falsely sympathetic voice. Beside me, Ciel snickered, and then seemed to remember that he shouldn't be laughing at a lady's distress and schooled his features. Still, I smiled at the fact that I had managed to get a smile out of the stoic child. I noticed Sebastien returning, and schooled my features as well. "So, what did you find?"

He looked at me with a smirk, and then his gaze turned to Ciel. "It seems that the arm was bitten off, rather than cut. The edges are too rough, and the skin isn't stretched enough for it to have been torn. The only likely explanation was that it was bitten off cleanly by something with a big enough mouth."

Ciel arched an eyebrow. "You mean the Devil Dog, don't you?" Sebastien shrugged. We trudged back to the castle, leaving the villagers to their chanting and prayers. When I turned to go with Mey-Rin and the others, Ciel grabbed my wrist. "Come with me," he ordered.

"Um…okay?" I followed the young Earl to his room, with Sebastien behind us. The man quickly set the fire going, and I wasted no time in throwing off the wet blanket and sitting as close to the flames as I could without being burned. "Warmth~," I smiled happily.

"_The case is at an end_," Sebastien said. "Having declared such a thing, this is rather unfortunate, is it not young master?"

He was obviously poking fun at Ciel, who obviously didn't appreciate it. "Shut up," the younger male scowled.

I giggled and twisted around on the floor to face them, keeping my back to the fire. "Don't rub salt in the wound, Sebastien," I scolded lightly. "We should be thinking of what to do right now, right Ciel?" I smiled at the boy. His expression was still stoic, but it softened slightly when he looked at me.

"Yes. What did you do with Miss Angela?" He asked curiously.

I shrugged. "Mey-Rin and Finny said that they would put her to bed since she's out cold," I got to my feet and stretched. "Mey-Rin thinks that the reason Barrymore was killed was because the Devil Dog was angry that someone was doing all those selfish, bad deeds in its name. That makes sense, doesn't it?" I looked at Sebastien to back me up on this theory. "I mean, if I were the Devil Dog, I would be pretty pissed too."

He smirked at me. "True. One thing is certain though, this was not the work of humans."

_So there are things on this earth that aren't human,_ I stared at Sebastien. _He has red eyes like blood, and they glow and look so strange…what is he? Vampire? Shapeshifter? Scorpio?_ He caught me staring at him, and arched an eyebrow, and then he smiled. His eyes flashed briefly, as though he was testing something.

My eyes widened and a single word came to me. _Demon…_

"I think it is time for Miss Thalia to return to her room," he walked over to me. "Shall I escort you, my lady?"

Ciel's eyes narrowed warningly. "Fine. But, Sebastien, my order still stands."

I barely heard him, I was suddenly entranced by a pair of blood-red eyes and a smirk that was full of many things. I barely heard his response, and only saw the way his mouth curved around the words. "_Yes, my lord_."

He led me back to my room in silence, but once we were inside, he turned to me. "You have been staring at me quite often, Thalia," he walked over to me and I did my best to not show how nervous I was. He stopped and leaned over until his nose was not an inch from mine. "Care to tell me why?"

I blinked and broke the eye contact we had. "Your eyes…" I replied shyly, nervously. _Wait, _shyly_? _I shook my head lightly and scowled at myself. _The fuck bitch? We have gone through too much to start acting shy around men!_

_Although…this person isn't _quite_ a man…_

"My eyes?" He sounded amused. Fingers went under my chin, and he tipped my head up so that I was facing him. "What about them, Thalia?"

I was forced to look into his eyes again, and they were glowing red and pink. In spite of their obvious supernatural appearance, they were beautiful, hypnotising. "They're glowing," I murmured. "What are you?" I asked him curiously. "I already know you're not human, and I have an idea, but I want to be certain…just what are you anyway?"

He chuckled. "You're rather curious, aren't you?" He asked. _I have all reason to be,_ I thought to myself. The fingers he had at my chin moved to my cheek. "What do you think I am?"

My eyes narrowed as I stared into his eyes contemplatively. "I'm guessing you're…a demon. Am I right?"

His eyebrows went up, and he grinned a sharp grin. "The young master was right, you are rather…perceptive." The way he said it, I didn't feel the same thrum of pride that I had when Ciel had. "Now…" Sebastian leaned closer to me and brought his lips to my ear. I shivered slightly at the feel of his warm breath washing over the skin of my neck. "…aren't you afraid, Thalia?"

I let my eyes fall shut for a minute, and then I opened them again with a smile. I reached up and pushed Sebastian away from me. "Oddly…no," I shook my head and looked up at him. His brows rose faintly. "I'm just curious. If you had wanted to kill me, you would have done it before. You've had ample time to do so anyway."

"Ah," he smirked and caressed my face gently with one gloved hand. "But what if I'm just waiting until you're alone…" his fingers trailed to my throat. "…and no one can hear your screams?"

I smirked back, and my reaction seemed to take him by surprise. "We're alone now. Why aren't you attacking me?" I smiled up at him. "I don't think you will kill me, Sebastien. If you want to, then I would be dead by now, but I'm not. Either you _don't _want to kill me, or something is preventing you from doing that."

He looked amused by my reasoning, and chuckled. "Interesting." With that, he released me and made his way to the door of my room. I scrambled under the bed, jostling Morgan in the process, who gave me a sleepy cat-glare before crawling over to my stomach and flopping there.

"Hey." He turned back to me. I smiled. "Goodnight, Sebastien!"

He could have smiled back, or it could have just been the shadows. "Goodnight, Thalia."

**Sebastien's POV**

She was becoming more tempting with every moment. Something about her made me want her, badly. I wanted to…not eat her soul, no. I knew that hunger well, and this wasn't it. Was it lust? Maybe. Still…I didn't just want to have sex with her either. The feeling wasn't exactly _lust_, but something else. Something I hadn't felt in the years of my existence.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and kept walking down the corridor. I had to get a grip on myself, before I got too carried away.


	5. Pluto

**I GOT SOME SUPER NICE REVIEWS FROM YOU GUYS SO THANKS! Man, I love this site. I'd also like to thank Animefreak1145 for her review. It made my day!**

**I don't own Black Butler, because then I would have Sebastian and I wouldn't have to display my great love for him via an OC.**

**Thalia: What?**

**Me: NOTHING! READ! **

**Pluto**

**Thalia's POV**

The next morning, I trailed into the kitchen with everyone else. "Good morning," I muttered around a yawn. Although I was already more or less wide awake, I still wasn't that much of a morning person. I glanced over at Finny, who looked as terrible as I felt. "Hey, Finny, what's wrong? You look terrible."

"Huh? No, I'm fine," he mumbled, refusing to meet my eyes. I arched an eyebrow, but left it at that.

At that moment, Angela walked in bearing a tray with mugs and a jug. "Good morning everyone." _Oh lord, she's a morning person. Look at her, looking so chipper even after she fainted last night._ I noticed the way Finny stiffened at her entrance and avoided her gaze. I wondered what was wrong with him. Yesterday he would have been so excited about seeing her, and now he looked as though he couldn't even bear being in the same room with her.

Bard smiled at her kindly. "Is it alright for you to be up like that after last night?" I glared at him between a bite of bread. _Hey, why are you nice to her when all you do to me is tease me and push into lakes?_

She smiled back. "Yes. I'm sorry to have troubled you so," she put down the tray and frowned at herself. "Acting like that, even after my master taught me that I must never, ever forget my manners around guests…"

I hummed under my breath and grabbed the jug and a cup. It was orange juice, apparently freshly squeezed. As I sipped it, I considered my reservations about Angela. Was it fair of me to not like her? Something about her may have rubbed me the wrong way, but she hadn't necessarily done anything to us. She had even tried to help us.

Maybe it was because she seemed so soft-spoken and weak-minded, deferring to her master even after all he had done to her and the town. I sighed into my cup and focused on the rest of the conversation. Angela was asking Finny if he was alright.

Said boy panicked and scrambled away. "Um, I'm not feeling all that well, so you probably shouldn't touch me or my germs could spread!" All this was said in a panicked rush, and then he sprinted from the kitchen with his head down. "I'M SORRY!" We watched him bolt.

Bard blinked. "It doesn't seem like he's feeling unwell at all."

I nodded. "Anyone who can run like that can't be all that sick."

Mey-Rin got to her feet. "I'm going to go get him," she told us. "Thalia, do you want to come with me?"

I nodded quickly and downed the rest of my juice. "Yeah, I'm coming!" I got to my feet and followed her out of the house. I whistled lowly at the fallen trees. "What the hell happened?" I asked as when I caught up with Mey-Rin. "This place wasn't like this yesterday. I wonder what ran through this place to cause such destruction."

"Maybe it was the Devil Dog!" She commented, and we snickered.

It didn't take long to find Finny. He was sitting on one of the fallen trees, his knees to his chin. He looked really upset. "Finny!" Mey-Rin called as we ran up to him. "Finny, are you okay?" Like before, he refused to tell us anything beyond a muttered 'I'm fine'. Mey-Rin and I glanced at each other, but I shrugged. If he didn't want to tell us, there was nothing we could really do.

We made our way back to the house. I grabbed Morgan, who was balancing on Tanaka's head and apparently using him as a mode of transportation. "Ho-ho-ho…" _If you ask me, this guy has been possessed by the spirit of Santa Claus._ I giggled and decided to go find Ciel and Sebastien. Maybe if I begged hard enough, Sebastien would feed me!

Odd how after discovering he was a demon (who had molested me, we can't forget that), all I could think about was what a good cook he was. My priorities were _way_ off kilter that morning. Maybe it was because I was hungry. _Yeah, that's probably it._

I found them in the dining room, where Ciel was about t sit down to some pudding. "Today's snack is Cabinet Pudding," Sebastien was saying when I came in. "Prepared with blackberries from the surrounding regions." His gaze slid to me when I came in, but I pretended not to notice. Out of consideration for Ciel, I had left Morgan outside.

"Hi Ciel, Sebastien," I hugged Ciel from the side because I knew it annoyed him and got him very flustered when I gave him a full-frontal-body hug. It was so cute! "How's my cute little earl doing this morning?"

"Gack, Thalia! Get off me!" He flapped his arms uselessly. I giggled and pulled away, but not without landing a kiss on his cheek because he was too adorable to not do otherwise. I was beginning to think of him as the little brother I had never had. If that's weird, he hasn't exactly done much to dissuade me from thinking like that. Something told me that if he _really _didn't like me, he wouldn't bother hiding it. His face twisted into a grimace and I spied a telltale blush on his face. "You need to stop doing that."

"But you're too cute to ignore!" I laughed at the appalled and disgusted look on his face. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" I took a step away from him and went to go and stand beside Bard. "I'm still going to kill you," I muttered to him out of the side of my mouth.

"Ha, I'd like to see you try, little girl," he muttered back. I lifted my fist and punched him in the shoulder, hard. "Ow!"

Ciel rolled his eyes at us, and glanced at Sebastien. "You're quite laidback, aren't you?" He asked, apparently continuing the discussion he'd been having before I had come in.

"There is no need to get flustered," Sebastien said. He did seem very calm. His eyes glimmered with amusement over my sudden display of affection for Ciel, and Ciel's reaction. "Thalia, have you eaten yet?"

I smirked thoughtfully. "Funny you should ask that…"

Just then, the door flew open and Mey-Rin and Finny came flying in. "Sebastien!"

He glared at them. "What's is wrong? You're making a ruckus."

"Miss Angela is nowhere to be found!" Finny looked genuinely worried. "We've looked high and low for her, but we can't find her anywhere!"

"Oh," Bard stopped rubbing his shoulder and glaring at me. "She said that there were some herbs that grow near the swamp and that she would go pick them."

"On her own?" Finny stared at the cook. "To the swamp?"

"Really?" Mey-Rin looked worried. "At a time when the Devil Dog may be running loose?" One look at Bard, and I could tell that he had completely forgotten about that problem.

"Why would she choose _now_ of all times to go picking herbs anyway?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest. "This isn't really the time for that!"

Bard looked over at me, and then at Finny. "It seems she was worried about how pale Finny looked, so she said she'd go pick some herbs to help him." _However noble her motives may have been,_ I thought to myself. _That was still a really reckless choice._ Finny suddenly turned and raced out of the room without us. "Oi, Finny!" Bard yelled. "We're going too!"

"Oh," Sebastien didn't look very bothered. Bard turned his head and glared at him over his shoulder.

"What, don't you have any red hot blood pumping through your veins?" He asked. "Let's go, Mey-Rin, Thalia!"

"Yes, sir!"

"But, I'm hungry!"

I was ignored. "What about Old Tanaka?" Bard asked. I snickered under my breath. Said man was already packed and ready, with a gun over his shoulder. _I wonder where all of that came from. _"He's got the spirit! Alright, let's go you rabble!" And with that, all three of them sprinted out of the house. I stared after them. There had been lot sprinting out of rooms lately.

Ciel finished the rest of his food calmly, while I snacked on the blackberries from the pudding because (apparently) he didn't like them. It was either that, or he was just trying to feed me. I was happy either way. Something Bard had said sparked my curiousity. "I'm curious now…" I grinned suddenly, glancing at Ciel out of the corner of my eye.

He caught my gaze, and my train of thought. He smirked and glanced at Sebastien. "So am I. So…what colour _is_ your blood?" Sebastien glared at the two of us while Ciel continued talking calmly. "It really seems like something to get flustered about."

"I vote purple," I raised my hand immediately. Then I gasped. "No, wait, what if it _isn't _blood? What if he just bleeds black smoke and sparkles?" Ciel's eyes widened and he choked on his tea slightly. Sebastien turned his glare on me, and then he just sighed. I smiled and popped the last blackberry into my mouth. "Well, I'd love to stay and debate demonic blood colour choices, but I'm going to see if I can catch up with everyone else before they get too far away."

Luckily for me, they hadn't gone too far. Even though it was incredibly misty, I was still able to find them by following the sound of their voices as they called for her. "Miss Angela!"

"Where did she go?" Finny looked really distressed. I patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll find her," I reassured him. And then Mey-Rin screamed. "Mey-Rin!" We ran to where she was standing, and then I gaped. In front of us was, what I could only describe as, a garden of body parts. I could see legs and arms half buried in the ground. They all looked old and grey and wrinkled, with hands and arms that looked like the dead were trying to push themselves out of the grave.

They were all wrinkled, as I said, except one which looked fresh. A familiar, silver ring glinted on the middle finger, and I gripped my own ring reflexively. "Hey, isn't that ring…" Finny began.

He didn't finish that thought. A low howling sound filled the air, like a large dog. We quickly fived behind a huge rock and peered out. A figure was making its way through the fog. The closer it got, the more I was able to see and I was more than a little surprised to see that it was actually a man.

He had long, shaggy white hair, and red eyes. He was also very naked, which made me avert my eyes and look elsewhere because that was just awkward. "Who is that?" Mey-Rin wondered. I glared down at her. Of course she was still looking, she was a closet pervert after all. I wondered why her nose wasn't gushing blood all over the place yet.

"It really wasn't the Devil Dog that did Lord Henry in," Bard said. "It was a human after all!"

"I-It's a full frontal scene!" Mey-Rin mumbled, a drop of blood trickling out of her nose. I smirked and rolled my eyes. I kept quiet though, and just listened to the others.

"Did he have a grudge against Lord Henry or something?" Bard wondered.

"Maybe Angela asked him to do it!" Mey-Rin speculated.

"Miss Angela has nothing to do with this!" Finny yelled. My eyes widened at the loud voice he used. "We shouldn't doubt her!"

"_Would you keep quiet?!_" I hissed and dragged him back behind the boulder. Or, I tried to. It was already too late. Whoever this guy was, he had already heard us and turned around. For a few seconds, no one moved. He just stared at Finny, and Finny at him.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and I spotted the all villagers dressed in their swimsuits. I blinked and narrowed my eyes. _Okay…this is not the strangest thing I've seen so far._ "Okay, I'll bite, what's going on?" I asked.

"We were going to perform ablutions in order to quell the Devil Dog's anger!" They said. "Last night, the Devil Dog's angered voice rang out loudly. The howling lasted all night!"

I shrugged. "I didn't hear anything." But then I'm a heavy sleeper. I could sleep through most things including, apparently, the otherworldly sound of howling Devil Dogs. I turned, and realized that Finny had already run after the man. "Hey, Finny!"

We ended up in front of the ruins of an old building. The mist seemed thicker here, and the sound of the dog howling filled the air. "This noise…" Finny said.

In front of us, the silhouette of something large began to form. Something big, with gleaming red eyes and four legs. My eyes widened and I took a step back. "The Devil Dog…" The monster opened its mouth, and flames licked at the inside and around its teeth. It glared at us, and roared (I didn't know dogs could roar).

Then it charged us.

Instead of running away, Finny charged back. "Finny!" _What is that idiot doing!?_

He tackled the dog around its front leg and held on. I don't know what he planned to accomplish. Maybe he thought he could slow it down. It didn't work, although the dog stopped and began to wave him around in an effort to dislodge him. "Finny!" I screamed, and then I was suddenly hit by a shower of confetti and ribbons.

I turned and stared at Bard – who was holding Tanaka's gun – with a hysterically confused face like, _dude what are you doing? Finny's about to die and you're blowing birthday poppers?!_ Apparently he was as confused as I was.

The dog managed to throw Finny off. To my horror, it stood on its hind legs and lifted a paw as it prepared to crush Finny. The feeling of uselessness hit me hard, and I could only scream. "_Finny!_" I closed my eyes.

After a moment, I realized that I hadn't heard the sound that normally accompanies the event of a person being crushed under several tonnes of canine muscle. I opened my eyes and gasped with relief and shock.

Sebastien was standing above Finny, one hand behind his back and the other holding the giant paw at bay. He looked quite relaxed, even when faced with the growling animal and it's weight. "My, my," he smiled. "You're certainly very good at the 'shake hands' command, aren't you?"

"Sebastien!" I could hug him! But, you know, not right then. I ran forward and dragged Finny out of the way. Sebastien's eyes slid to me, and then back to the task at hand.

"However," he continued. "As expected…" he suddenly flipped the dog away like it weighed nothing. "…it is a bit heavy!" The Devil Dog landed a few metres away with a loud crash.

"Oi, this isn't the time to be playing around," Ciel appeared. _When did the two of them get here?_ "Hurry up."

"Of course, young master," Sebastien smirked. "I intend to clean all this up in just a moment." The dust that had been thrown up by the impact began to clear and the Devil Dog got to its feet. Instead of charging, however, it began to sniff the air. Sebastien smirked even more. "It is a scent you cannot resist, is it not?" He suddenly pulled out a box of dog kibble from behind his back.

I stared at it blankly. "You're kidding me."

He ignored me. "Puppy's favourite, they'll want to eat it every day! It's Innuko!" _Why did that sound like an advertisement jingle?_

"Innuko?" Fortunately, I wasn't the only one who was confused. Apparently, he _wasn't _kidding. As I stared, the dog's mouth began to water and it began to run towards Sebastien with a happy howl. I sweatdropped. _Who knew supernatural, otherworldly dogs weren't immune to dog kibble?_

"The best way to train a dog," Sebastien said. "Is by bending its will and then strengthening its loyalty. In other words," his looked up at the dog. "The carrot and stick!" He suddenly spread his arms. "First, the carrot!"

What followed after that was a little bit odd. First, he jumped on the Devil Dog's snout and bit its nose. _Okay…_ Ciel and I shared stunned, bemused looks, and then turned back to the spectacle at hand.

"Followed by," he jumped off the dog. "The stick!" He suddenly kicked it in the face. _No! Puppy!_ _Wait, it tried to kill Finny. Wow my priorities are really off kilter._ It got pretty repetitive after that. "Carrot…stick…carrot…stick…stick!" _Hey, that was two sticks in a row!_ He spun the dog around by its tail and sent it spiralling into a bunch of rocks.

Ciel watched with impassive eyes. "This is a bigger show than I could have imagined," he muttered. I hummed my agreement.

"And finally, a big embrace!" Sebastien mega-glomped the stunned and dizzy dog, and then leaped several feet in the air. When the dog finally came down, it left a large, deep crater in the ground.

We crowded the edge of the hole. "He's not coming out!" Mey-Rin looked worried. _Nah, he's a demon. He's fine._ Ciel walked to the edge of the hole and glared down into it.

"Well, what are you idling around for?" He snapped. "Come back here this instant."

A second passed, and then a faint. "Understood!" The ground began to shake and I, wisely, took more than a few steps back so I was out of the way when a huge geyser of hot water shot out of the mouth of the hole. _So my theory about a hot spring was right_, I thought as I stared up at the fountain of water.

"That's right, where's Sebastien?" Finny asked. I pointed upwards mutely.

"One thing is essential for a resort," Sebastien spoke. "A centrepiece that will attract attention. Bathing luxuriously in excessive amounts of hot water and draining away the fatigue of the day. That is what this is," the water parted to reveal Sebastien standing at the top of the geyser with the man we had seen before in his arms. "The spa!"

I stared up at him blankly. "There he goes," I muttered. "Sebastian Michaelis, defying the laws of gravity and physics one step at a time."

He jumped down, and landed on the ground gracefully. "If one who served the Phantomhive family could not strike a hot spring or two, then where would we be?" _I have no idea_, I thought_._ And then I snickered when the dog, in human form, suddenly began to lick Sebastien's face. The look of disgust on his face only served to heighten my amusement.

Mey-Rin turned away, blood gushing from her nose. "Once again, it's too shocking!"

Suddenly, Angela appeared. I had forgotten about her in the last half hour or so. I think we all had. "Pluto!" The dog suddenly bounded out of Sebastien's arms and into hers. It would have been an awkward scene but…ugh, what am I saying? It _was_ an awkward scene.

Angela explained to us that she had found Pluto a few months ago. "I love dogs," she stroked Pluto's head, which was resting on her lap. The dog-person was dozing quietly. "He was so cute that I ended up trying to tame him."

"Cute?" Finny and Mey-Rin glanced at each other. All they saw was a naked man.

"He has a bad habit of turning into a human when he gets excited though," she sighed.

Bard flipped. "Don't try to play this off by calling it a 'habit'!" I patted Bard on the shoulder and got him to sit down again.

"So you kept him without telling anyone," Sebastien concluded.

She nodded. "Yes. Lord Barrymore used the legend of the Devil Dog to control the town, but in reality he was more terrified of it than anyone else. When I thought about what would happen if Pluto found out…I suppose I was too naïve. I didn't think for one moment that he would do that to Lord Barrymore."

I regarded her then. I still didn't quite feel like I liked her, but my heart softened a bit. Anyone willing to take in an animal couldn't be _all_ bad. Pluto whined in his sleep and cuddled closer to her. _Aw, he's so cute!_ He obviously loved her a lot.

She looked up at Ciel imploringly. "I beg you, is there no way he could be taken to your mansion?" Sebastien blinked, and his expression was one of acute shock and (slight) horror. "If he's under Sebastien's tutelage, I'm sure he will become an excellently obedient dog!"

"Well," my gaze slid to Sebastien teasingly. "He is _one hell of a butler_."

He glared at me. "Yes, but not one hell of a dog trainer…"

"That sounds fine," Ciel said. Sebastien turned his glare on the younger male, who looked highly amused at the prospect.

"Are you sure, young master?" _He so wants to kill Ciel now, _I giggled to myself.

"Yes," Ciel smirked. "It certainly sounds fun in many ways." _Fun for who, exactly?_ The glaring contest lasted a few more seconds, before Sebastien sighed and gave in. The ground began to shake, and the town's people were suddenly crowding us on their knees and thanking us. Things were said, but I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking that now I would have to leave and go back alone.

Without Ciel and the others, there was nothing keeping me in this creepy town. "Well, whatever," Ciel sighed. "Our goal here was accomplished."

Sebastien smirked at him. "Is this really the time to be saying such a line when you were proved wrong before?"

A vein twitched in Ciel's forehead. "Fine, you say it." And he did, with much fanfare and authority. I smiled slightly. _Yeah, I'm really going to miss these people._

oOo

Ciel decided to leave a week later. The preparations for the resort were coming along nicely, and the town had undergone a complete transformations. I considered giving Finny back his clothes, but then I realized that all my old clothes had been thrown out, courtesy of Sebastian.

I sighed and wondered what I was going to do after this. Those men had probably stopped looking for me by now, so I would be safe for the time being. I tied my hair up and pushed it under my pageboy hat. The image in the mirror struck me as familiar and yet not. I had new bruises, and there was a scar just under my eye. The nail of my left pinkie finger was broken

I made my way outside where Mey-Rin, Finny and Bard placing the luggage into carriage. "Well, I suppose I won't be seeing you guys again," I forced a chipper tone into my voice so I didn't sound so sad. "I had fun. So thank you."

Finny looked confused. "You're not coming with us?"

I shrugged. "Hey, I don't know. That's not for me to decide. It was nice of all of you sort of take me in and treat me well, and I'll never forget that. Tell Ciel I said that."

"Tell Ciel you said what?" I jumped and turned. Ciel and Sebastien were standing behind me. Ciel arched an eyebrow at me. "Thalia, what are you doing? Get into the carriage."

I stared at him blankly, and then I glomped him. I really couldn't help it. "OHMIGOSH, THANK YOU!" I hugged him tightly. "You won't regret this Ciel," I told him, pulling back so I could look him square in the face with my hands on his shoulders. "I promise to protect you with everything I have! I'll take care of you like a big sister!"

His face was slightly red, but he managed to scowl at me sufficiently. "Carriage. Now."

"Yes, young master!" I hopped into the carriage. A few minutes later, Angela came outside with Pluto. She attached a collar to his neck and kissed his cheek.

"Don't forget about me, okay Pluto?"

Bard flipped, again. "Pluto! In the meantime, put some clothes on when you're in public! Plu, you're jiggling all over the place!" I handed Mey-Rin a tissue for her bloody nose and patted her on the back. Pluto jumped into the carriage and settled himself beside me. To my surprise, he sniffed me, beamed, and proceeded to nuzzle his face into my neck.

I froze. "Uh, guys? What is he doing? Guys? Seriously, help, I think he's sniffing me. Someone, please, anyone? I don't know what's going on." Sebastien walked past and glared at the dog. His eyes glowed, and Pluto pulled away, whimpering sadly. I smiled a bit and patted him on the head so he wouldn't think it was because I didn't like him. His eyes lit up again and I laughed.

I caught Angela's eyes when I did, and I was surprised at the sudden flicker of anger there. It quickly disappeared when Sebastien looked at her. "We should start making some headway now."

She smiled at him. "I will definitely come and visit Pluto sometime!"

"If possible, I would like to ask you to refrain from doing so," Sebastien said. She blinked and frowned. I stopped scratching Pluto behind the ears long enough to listen. "Taming a Devil Dog is not an easy task," he was smiling a smile that didn't look all that friendly. "You seem to possess a talent for bending the will of lesser creatures."

_Ooh, is that why I've been so suspicious of her?_ The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, before Ciel ordered for him to get going. He bowed slightly and jumped into the carriage. A few seconds later, we were off and I was looking forward to my new life in the Phantomhive household.


	6. Photographs

**I've been down sick with a cold, which I got from my little brother, which he got from someone else. I don't know, colds are annoying. And strange. It's a different cold virus, but the same symptoms and shit. I don't get it.**

**Anyway, enjoy the new chapter. Anyone who has any ideas about my writing style and/or arc prompts (because I really want one but my imagination is failing me at the moment) should please either review or PM me.**

**That would be nice. Now, I am going to moan about how terrible I feel while browsing tumblr. I own nothing, except Thalia.**

**Photographs**

It had been nearly a week since Ciel had somewhat-but-not-quite adopted me. He had decided to make me a maid to help Mey-Rin, who was just a _tad_ bit useless at her job. I had suggested to her that maybe she would work better if she got some new glasses, but then she flipped and began yelling that these were glasses that the _young master_ had gotten for her and she wouldn't part with them for anything.

Which, you know, was sort of sweet, but still a really stupid reason for walking around half-blind.

The only downside to living there was that now, I had to wear a skirt. Yeah, you heard me, a _skirt_. I can't remember the last time I had to do that! Because Mey-Rin and I weren't the same size, we had to get a new set of uniforms for me to wear. That meant that, for the first week or so while I was there, I walked around in Finny's clothes like I had before.

Getting me into the skirt was a very painful and scarring experience for me. Mey-Rin had tried to do it, and I had accidentally-on-purpose knocked her unconscious. So Ciel had brought in Sebastian.

Hence, my current situation. "NO, STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU EVIL SOUL-SUCKING PERSON! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO THIS!" I screamed as I ran down the hallways with Sebastian right behind me. "CAN'T I JUST STAY IN PANTS? YOU CAN MAKE ME A GARDENER! I'LL HELP FINNY!" Years of living on the streets had made me a fast runner, but I could tell it was only a matter of time before he caught me. He was a demon after all.

Suddenly, I crashed into someone and fell backwards onto the floor. "Ow…"

"Now, now, Thalia…" My eyes widened as I found myself staring at a familiar pair of black-clad legs. I turned my gaze upwards and gulped when I met a pair of gleaming, dark red eyes. "…be a good girl and come here," he stretched out one hand to me and I freaked because _how the hell did he get in front of me!?_ I rolled under his legs and continued running like a maniac while screaming the word, "SHIT!" over and over to adequately express the extent of my panic at my predicament.

Someone grabbed me by my collar and lifted me into the air. I swung slightly, due to my previous momentum, and then sighed and hung limp when my eyes met a pair of highly amused red ones. "Are you going to kill me now?"

His eyes glinted and his smirk widened slightly. "Not unless you want me to."

"Nah," I shook my head and sighed deeply with resignation. "I'm good." He flipped me slightly so he could hold me bridal style, and began to walk back to the changing room I had bolted from while I complained to him about the horror of skirts. "Aw, come on Sebastian! Finny said he'd give me all his old clothes! Besides, skirts suck and it's very difficult to kick people in the face when you're wearing several layers of fabric around your legs. You know what I mean, right? Not about the skirt thing, about the kicking people in the face thing."

He didn't say anything in response, but I felt his chest reverberate when he chuckled. My cheeks heated up and I remembered that moment back in the mansion on Houndsworth. I tried not to think about it too often, especially since Sebastian had never brought it up. I had concluded that he had just been teasing me and I shouldn't get so flustered over something like that.

I mean, it wasn't like he had _kissed_ me or anything.

He walked back into the room and put me down on my own two feet. I watched as he walked over to the discarded maid uniform on the bed. "Well then, Thalia," he held it up, his face the very picture of innocence. "Since you're so against wearing this, I suppose I'll just have to help you."

I blinked. "Wait, what? NO, NO WAY!" He grabbed me before I could run. What occurred next I will not say but, as I said before, it was very scarring for me. The long and short of the story is that, in the end, he eventually got me into the maid outfit.

Which just goes to show that being a very fast, incredibly strong demon butler usually enables you to get the job done.

As soon as I was dressed, I sprinted from the room and ran to Ciel's study where I tackle-hugged the cute little Earl because I hadn't seen him that day to give him my usual greeting of love. Honestly, I think he's getting used to my random bursts of affection. "Ciel, hello~!"

"_Gack_!" He gasped. "Thalia!" I pulled away and smiled down at him cheerfully, and then I realized that Bard, Finny, Mey-Rin and even Tanaka were also in the room. "Oh, hi you guys."

Once Ciel had recovered from the shock of my hug, he resumed an air of quiet annoyance. The kind that, when faced with, would make anyone nervous. Mey-Rin cracked first, apparently she couldn't take the silence anymore. "So then, what was this matter you wanted to discuss with us, young master?"

He looked up at them. "There is a job I want you all to do."

The relief and excitement that lit their faces was almost comical, as was the group hug they did. "What a relief! Being called up to the young master, I thought we were going to be fired for sure!"

"Ho-ho-ho~!" _I suppose everyone was terrified, except Tanaka. He's old, so he has little to nothing to worry about. _

Ciel reached down and placed a camera on his table. It looked old, but it was well polished and appeared to be very expensive. "This is one of the items that Talbot is said to have collected," he explained. "A camera with a past. I heard this long-lost item had come up in an auction and went through quite some trouble to acquire it."

I leaned forward curiously. I had always been interested in history and anything pertaining to the past. "William Henry Fox Talbot," an unfamiliar voice said, and I spun around. Tanaka stood before us, fully human and not stunted in any way. He actually looked quite distinguished and serious, and not like the cute, tea-drinking dwarf I'd always seen him as. "He was an English scientist, and one of the inventors of photographic technology."

"I did not know Tanaka could do that," I muttered to myself. Then I shook my head and listened to the rest of his explanation.

"There is a rumour surrounding the last camera he used," Tanaka said. "It says that if you take a picture of someone with that camera then the thing most treasured by the person will be seen in the picture."

"The thing most important to that person?" Mey-Rin asked. I folded my arms, and then yelped when Tanaka swelled briefly, and then popped (literally) back into his stunted form.

"So, this is the camera?" I asked curiously. It looked kind of ordinary to me. Well, there was only one way to test its authenticity. "Let's try it out!"

Ciel quickly set it up and aimed it at Finny. "Don't move," he snapped at the nervous gardener. "The picture takes ten seconds for the negative exposure." Finny froze and became a statue. _Finny? Finny are you okay? I don't think he's breathing._ "If you don't stay still, the image will blur and it won't come out properly," Ciel said. "Eight. Nine. Ten. Alright, we're done."

"_Gah!_" Finny gasped for air and I sweatdropped and patted him on the back.

"It was okay to breathe though…" Ciel commented as he opened the camera to take out the film. After developing it, the picture showed Finny and, in the corner, a tiny little bird.

"Ah, that's my little bird!" Finny cried. This, of course, prompted a story of how the bird died. It was quite a sad story, and rather traumatic to hear and probably even more traumatic relive. I went to go hug Finny, who was sitting in a depressed corner, while Tanaka became fully formed again. It was odd seeing him like that after only knowing him as being a tiny deformed non-speaking character for so long.

"Ah, I forgot to mention something," he said. "The precious something that is reflected is one that does not belong in this world."

"You mean dead," I deadpanned. "Just say that it's something that is dead." _Like my mother._ I shook the thought away, but couldn't help stroking the ring on my finger a little.

Ciel sat back again. "The most precious thing to that person, which is not of this world. In other words, it means that the dead are transposed into the photograph." Behind him, Bard and Mey-Rin screamed (though Mey-Rin's sounded more like an excited squeal).

"Do occult stories like that really exist in the 19th Century world?" Bard asked, shaking tremulously.

"How amazing!" Mey-Rin beamed. "What an exceptional camera!"

I continued patting Finny while he cried in the corner for his little birdie. "There, there," I said in a soothing voice. "Let it all out. Don't worry, birdie's in a better place now."

"WAH, MY LITTLE BIRDIE!"

"I want all of you to take a picture of Sebastian with this camera, and do it without him realizing it," I heard Ciel say over the sounds of Finny's crying. I froze, and then I got to my feet and proceeded to walk out of the room.

"Nope, nothing doing, nyet, nein and no way," I said as I made my way to the door. "I'm going to go clean the tables or stitch the curtains or count every plate we have in this house. Bye!"

"If you succeed, I'll order Sebastian to cook something with chocolate for dessert," Ciel's voice followed me. I paused, one hand resting on the doorknob, and turned around with my eyebrows lowered. Ciel _knew_ my weakness for dessert, especially desserts made by Sebastian. For him to use that on me was just low… "I'll even have him make fudge."

"I'll do it!" I spun around and bounced back.

"Who is the one Sebastian cares most for?" Mey-Rin wondered, a blush on her face. "I'd like to know!"

"That bastard is always finding flaws in my artistic cooking!" Bard said. _Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say _artistic. That morning he had put gunpowder into the chicken to give it more _oomph_ when it cooked. Long story short, we now needed a new stove and someone to repair that portion of the wall. "He's human too! He has to have a weak spot or two! This is our chance to find them!"

I shrugged and smiled. "Hey, I'm just in this for the free chocolate."

Ciel smirked. "So, you'll do it?" We all agreed, and I just hoped we hadn't managed to sign our own death warrants.

oOo

**Plan 1: The Library**

_This is not going to work,_ I thought to myself with a quiet sigh. The only reason I was doing this, apart from the promise of dessert and chocolate, was because it appealed to my sneaky, Street Rat nature. Besides, Bard was right about Sebastian needing to be taken down a notch or two.

_But the thing is,_ I wondered as we crouched behind one of the shelves. _Can he actually be brought down? He is a demon, does he even care about any living thing except cats?_

The four of us were clustered behind one of the bookshelves and watching Sebastian clean the room. Because he was cleaning, he wasn't staying in one place for longer than four seconds at a time. "Stay still!" Bard grunted, steadying the camera every time Sebastian moved.

"He just needs to stay in one place for ten seconds!" Mey-Rin hissed.

"Ten seconds!" Finny echoed. I nudged the two of them angrily and made zipping motions with my hands. _You idiots, he's a demon! He has super hearing for Pete's sake!_

Too late, as though he had heard us, Sebastian began zipping around the room faster than we could follow. "He's going so fast I'm having trouble keeping up with him with my eyes!" Mey-Rin wailed.

"Damn it, there's no way we can snap him like that!" Bard groaned. Suddenly, Sebastian stopped and stared at one of the flower arrangements on one of the tables. "Oh, he stopped! Now's our chance!" The butler then whipped out a red rose and tucked it between its white brothers and sisters, and then walked out, leaving the room sparkling and dust-free.

_Well fuck… _I thought to myself as I stared at the gleaming room. "I forgot to take it," Bard murmured, apparently just as overcome as I was. I facepalmed and exhaled softly. _Okay, plan one failed._

**Plan 2: Parlour Room**

I stared at the large table Finny was pushing. It looked like a pool table, and I could only imagine that he had gotten it from the game room. I turned to Bard and Mey-Rin, and then I looked back at Finny. "Okay…how is this going to make Sebastian stay still?" I asked curiously.

"Simple!" Bard made a fist with one hand. "When Finny charges into the room with the table, Sebastian will be so surprised that he won't be able to move! Finny will knock into him…" at that point, he punched the palm of his other hand. "…and knock him down long enough for us to take the picture!"

I stared at him, and then at the table. Finally, I shrugged. "It's your plan, not mine. If anything breaks, and something _definitely_ will, I had nothing to do with it."

Mey-Rin pouted at me. "Where's your sense of team spirit, Thalia?"

I pinched the cheek closest to me cheerfully, which made her flail her arms around wildly. "You know I love you guys very much, but my sense of self-preservation ranks really high in many cases, this being one of them. Sebastian scares me and I would prefer to not die of manual labour or worse, alright?"

The rest of us went to station ourselves while Finny lined himself and the table up with the door. The poor boy, because he was in my books, took a deep breath and then charged while screaming. The door flew open. "Watch out!" Finny yelled. Sebastian looked up and calmly, in the manner of a true matador, stepped out of the way.

Finny, and the table, broke through the wall and into the garden. Sebastian went back to cleaning up while the three of us stared. I whistled lowly. "We are going to need a new wall now," I muttered. _Plan two failed as well._

**Plan 3: The Butler Room**

I looked down at Ciel as he fingered the untied fabric at his neck. "Will this really work though?" I wondered. "Everything else we've done has pretty much failed," I folded my arms across my chest and smirked. "It's probably your fault for getting _one hell of a butler_."

Ciel's glare told me he was not pleased with my teasing, so I shrugged and looked out the window to see how everyone else was getting long. Finny was holding the ladder at the base, while Bard and Mey-Rin steadied the camera on the top rung. They looked like a bunch of stalkers, but that was pretty much what we'd been doing all day anyway.

The door opened, and I turned away from the window. "Was there something you wanted, young master?" Sebastian asked as he stepped into the room.

Ciel gestured to his neck. "It's untied." At that moment, I realized that this was why I would never be a very good servant. I could carry out all my duties with all the finesse needed, but I didn't have the patience to do much. I would be _way_ too sarcastic to everyone I came in contact with.

Sebastian, however, was not. He was probably just very used to all of Ciel's random orders. "Could Miss Thalia not tie it for you?" He asked as his gaze went to mine. Was it just me, or did he smirk just a little?

My eyes narrowed, and then I shrugged. "I'm new at this servant stuff," I told him as nonchalantly as possible. "I won't know how to tie these things right."

He _was _smirking, that bastard. "Understood," he said simply, and he began tying up the knot. _Finally, we've got him in one spot! Now we just need to keep him like that for ten seconds!_ Of course, luck was not on our side as Sebastian chose that moment to go to the window and open it. "Let's let some air in, shall we, young master?"

I mentally facepalmed once again. _Plan three failed._

**Break Time **

We were all sitting in the corridor, sighing to ourselves mournfully. "Why do we have to go through all this trouble for a single photograph?" Bard groaned. The camera that had started all of this was beside him.

I raised my hand. "Because Ciel told us to?" I sat with my legs crossed, because it was a hundred times more comfortable than kneeling on the ground like Mey-Rin was doing. "What are we going to do? If we don't get this, I won't get my Sebastian-made dessert of chocolate!"

"Sebastian does make good chocolate," Finny sighed. I nodded and we all exhaled depressed breaths of air. Suddenly, the door beside us flew open, revealing the person I had just been talking about. I yelped quietly and rolled behind Bard.

Luckily, Sebastian didn't look very unhappy. "There is a job I'd like to ask you all to do."

"Ominous words," I muttered, remembering that those were words Ciel had first said to us that morning, before he'd made us go on this wild goose chase.

"Wh-what is it?" Mey-Rin stammered nervously.

Sebastian turned to the window. "That." I looked in the direction he was. Pluto was standing outside the window in his giant dog form. I blinked. We were on the second floor. The Devil dog was standing on its hind legs and peering into the house.

Finny and I began to squeal over Pluto together while Bard blinked and looked back at Sebastien. "Yeah, what's up with the pooch?"

"In the afternoon, we are receiving a guest here at the mansion," Sebastian said. "Please move that out of the way do that it does not offend our guest's eyes."

"Hey," I frowned at Sebastian. "Pluto is a dog, not a '_that_', okay?" Sebastian glanced down at me, and smiled but didn't reply. I shivered. Something about that smile made goosebumps appear all over my arms and made cold spots appear on my back. I averted my gaze and hopped over to where Finny was.

"Somewhere out of sight, being?" Bard asked.

Sebastian turned back to the man, to my relief. "I shall leave that to up to you, just get it done before the guest arrives." _Well thanks for nothing Sebastien, _I huffed and glared at his retreating back.

oOo

"Plu Plu, come here!" I watched from the Pluto's back as Finny tried to drag the giant dog away from the mansion. It was an epic struggle and tug-o'-war, and Finny seemed to be winning. Pluto was not very happy about it. The dog dug its heels into the ground and tried to pull back.

"Careful Finny," I yelled as I clung to the fur around Pluto's neck. "I'm still up here!" Why was I riding on Pluto, you ask? Well, it was the only way to get the rope around his neck. I got him to lie down, since I was the only person he listened to with the exception of Sebastian. Unfortunately, when he stood up, I was sitting on his back and thus…we have our current predicament.

"Hold on Thalia!" Mey-Rin yelled. "We'll get you down!"

"Come here!" At that moment, either Finny pulled or Pluto jumped (I believe it was the former) and Pluto was suddenly airborne. I screamed as a plume of fire shot out of Pluto's mouth and hit Finny. The heat of the flames caused the length of rope trailing from around Pluto's neck to burn and break.

"ARGH! FINNY, HELP ME!" I yelled as Pluto went bounding towards the house while I clung on to the fur on his neck for dear life. Finally, Pluto stopped and curled up in the ground, apparently deciding that this was an excellent place to sleep, right in front of the mansion, therefore rendering all our hard work useless. _I feel like that's been the story of everything I've been through today,_ I sighed with relief as I slid down off Pluto's back and made myself comfortable on the stone steps of the mansion.

"_Meow~_" I looked down as Morgan padded over to me. She regarded me out of green eyes and mewed again. She had been AWOL all day, and I couldn't help wondering where she had been. She did this often, darted out of my room every morning and I only ever saw her when she was hungry or napping somewhere in the house.

She pushed her head against my arm and mewed some more. "Where have you been?" I muttered. She yawned widely and crawled into my lap. "Oh, now you want me to cuddle you?" I sighed and scratched her under the chin gently, feeling the loud vibrations as she purred with contentment. For a moment, I relaxed. "This has been a really stressful day..."

Footsteps alerted me to someone's presence, and a familiar voice. "Good grief, those three…" Sebastian exhaled and put his hands to his face.

"Don't be too hard on them," I stroked the top of Morgan's head absent-mindedly. "Pluto's a bit of a handful, and he only really listens to you."

The butler sighed again and stood above me. "Still, maybe it would be easier if he just ate them." I giggled under my breath at that, and he smiled slightly. "Also, why are you here Thalia? Shouldn't you be helping them, or don't you have chores to do?"

I hissed and stood up with Morgan in my arms. Standing upright, I only just came up to his chest. I had underestimated how closely he was standing to me. My nose was only a few centimetres from his chest. I flushed slightly and tried to cover it up with my hair. "I guess you're right. I'll go do…whatever Ciel wants me to do, I guess," I looked up at him at that moment. That was a mistake. His crimson eyes were staring right into mine.

I suddenly felt nervous. Maybe it was because of the eye contact, or maybe it was because of our close proximity, but whatever it was, I felt my heart begin to beat faster than normal. His smile certainly wasn't helping matters. "What's wrong, Thalia?" His voice sounded, of all things, _sultry_. "You look rather flushed."

_What is with that tone of voice? _The fake innocence in his tone made me bristle, and I mentally slapped myself to jolt myself out of my nervous mindset. "It's a warm day," I scowled. "And I was running after Pluto."

His smirk widened. My mind raced to draw conclusions. _Wait, is he _flirting_ with me?_ _Dammit, he is not going to use his sexy demon charm on me! I am made of stronger stuff, goddammit! I will not succumb just because he happens to be better looking than pretty much every other man I have ever seen in my life! _

_Shit, is he moving closer?_

He was. Sebastien leaned closer to me, bending slightly so that we were eye to eye. His breath was warm on my lips. My blush was making itself well known now. "Mmm," he hummed low in his throat. "Are you sure that's the only reason, _Thalia_?"

The way he pronounced my name almost produced physical response in me. The warmth in my face moved downwards to my chest, and then spread.

I couldn't do this.

I didn't have to.

The sound of our voices had woken Pluto up from his nap and, for whatever reason, he transformed back into his human form in a whirlwind of fire, ran up the stone steps and tackled me away from Sebastian and to the ground. "AGH, PLUTO!" I screamed. "THE FUCK?" I yelped as he began rubbing his face against mine and making happy dog sounds. You know, if he hadn't been human and naked, this would have actually been really cute.

Instead, it was only moderately cute.

"Aw, good dog, good dog!" I scratched behind his ears and he began kicking one leg out spasmodically. "You're such a cute demon dog, aren't you, Pluto?" He whined happily and licked my cheek. I grimaced and wiped the saliva away with the back of my hand. "Okay, you are _not_ allowed to do that while in human form," I told him while wiping my hand on my skirt.

When I looked up at Sebastian, he looked…pissed. Like, _really _pissed. I suppose no man wants to be upstaged by a dog. Especially when that dog looks like a person. "Thalia, you have chores, do you not?" Oh, _now_ he wanted me to go and do my chores? He didn't have any problems with distracting me earlier.

I was feeling more in control of myself after Pluto's sudden tackle and show of doggy affection. You know, I think that's why I love dogs. They love you without expecting much in return. "I'm going, I'm going," I climbed to my feet, scratched Pluto under the chin and walked into the house without looking back.

oOo

I was dusting the front room downstairs, which was one of my duties, when the bell of the house rang. There was more dust in the front room than I would have expected. You'd think that with Sebastian doing the cleaning, there wouldn't be a speck of dust anywhere. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd left the place like that on purpose, just to spite me for ignoring him in favour of Pluto.

Well I'm _sorry_. Pluto wasn't trying to seduce me in front of the house. Especially since I didn't want to be seduced anyway.

I stopped cleaning and my fingers clenched a little tighter than necessary around the greying dust-cloth at the thought of that red-eyed pervert. How dare he try to seduce me like that? I should have punched him in the gut, or jabbed him in the solar plexus. That I was wondering why I _hadn't_ done any of those things was probably why I didn't hear the doorbell immediately.

"Hold on!" I called. I dropped the cloth I was using to dust on the table and made my way to the door. "Welcome to the Phantomhive Manor," I said when I opened the door. Standing outside was a man dressed in Chinese clothing, and a woman that was dressed in…well…a very tiny kimono-like outfit. I blinked, and then remembered that I was supposed to be a maid and so snapping out a '_what do you want?'_ probably wasn't a good idea. "Uh…good afternoon, sir, miss."

_God I sound so awkward._

The man didn't seem to notice. "Ah, the little Earl got a new maid?" He smiled. He had been smiling from the second the door opened. Perpetual smiles freak me out. I actually preferred the girl's blank and almost soulless expression to his. At least hers seemed real.

I curtsied and stepped back so they could enter the mansion. _Wait, do I leave them here and go and tell Ciel? Do I have to stay and entertain them until he comes? Do I offer them drinks and stuff? Wow this maid shit is harder than it looks…_

Luckily, Sebastian showed up and put me out of my misery. "Master Lau, Ran Mao, welcome," he bowed slightly, so I curtsied again as awkwardly as I had the first time.

"Sebastian," Lau turned to the man. "I was just commenting on the young earl's new maid. She is quite striking to look at, isn't she? Especially her hair." I touched the ends of my braid self-consciously and flushed slightly. "The contrast and link between her hair and eyes is quite marvelous. How much do you think the young earl would ask for if I said I wanted to buy her?"

_I am not for sale, you Chinese bastard!_ I was about to open my mouth to yell this insult, and many others like it, but Sebastian nudged my arm and I bit down on my tongue. "Unfortunately, Master Lau, Thalia is not for sale. Thalia," he turned to me, and I quelled any urge I had to insult the Chinese man in front of me. To me, Sebastian was far scarier than a perverted Chinese man. "Please go and alert the young master to Lau's arrival."

**Please read and review.**

**Butterfly**


	7. Bad Plans and Bad Memories

**Hey you guys! I was a bit preoccupied with my other story, but I'm back now. I own nothing but Thalia, and a few side arcs that I may want to implement later on. Enjoy the chapter. Constructive criticism is, as always, totally appreciated. **

**Bad Plans and Bad Memories**

I walked, almost ran, up the stairs and into Ciel's study, just in time to hear him say something to Bard about not being allowed to use flamethrowers. Everyone immediately wilted as, whatever their plan had been, was shot down (mercifully. The house had sustained enough damage for one day, which I would have to clean up later).

"Ciel, someone called Master Lau is here to see you," I told him when I walked inside. "Also, he said he wanted to buy me," I added as a bit of an afterthought, and then I looked at Ciel curiously. "Why would he want to do that?"

Ciel twitched, and his visible eye narrowed slightly. "Lau runs an opium den, and a brothel."

I blinked once, twice, just as the door opened and Lau walked in. "Hi Earl!"

I immediately ran behind Ciel's chair and glared at the man from behind the little Earl, like a highly irate cat. "Keep that guy away from me, or I may kill him. And I'm not kidding about that." I'd seen enough of the inside of a brothel that I would _never_ want to go back.

Ciel sighed and glared at him as well, or that could just have been the face he had on. Ciel rarely ever looked happy, I had noticed, but sometimes he appeared soft and not as hard as he normally was. This was not one of those times. "What are you doing here, Lau?"

"I heard something interesting was going on, so I decided to visit," Lau replied cheerfully. _How did you hear about this? _I wondered dully as my eyes narrowed even more. _None of us have been outside the house!_

"Go home," Ciel deadpanned immediately. _Yeah, do that._

Lau pouted and leaned further over the desk. I responded by pulling Ciel's chair, which I was still standing behind, backwards and away from him. Even though he was right in front of me, I couldn't see his eyes. Never trust someone who smiles too much and doesn't look you straight in the eye, they are rarely ever what they appear to be. Right now, I didn't trust Lau any further than I could throw him. "Don't say such cold things," he grinned. "Just leave it to me."

I blinked, and even Ciel looked surprised. _Wait, really? _I frowned at Lau curiously. _He thinks he can catch Sebastian in one afternoon, when the four of us spent almost the whole day trying to do just that?_

"The spider's web has already been woven," Lau picked up one of Ciel's figurines, the one of the sheep. "The more you struggle, the harder it becomes for you to escape from those bonds. Whatever the prey is, once they become involved with me, catching them is only a matter of time."

_Well that came out sounding sufficiently deep and impressive_, I decided. "Alright," Ciel acquiesced. "However, I will not tolerate failure, no matter what."

"But of course," Lau smirked. "If I were to sully the Phantomhive name, I would be expelled from this country after all." _Why are they both making this sound so much more than it is?_ I stopped clinging to the back of Ciel's chair and, instead, opted to stand beside it with my arms folded across my chest. "So," Lau's voice lost its mysteriousness entirely. "What are we doing?"

I facepalmed while Ciel developed an angry twitch on his forehead. "I'm never going to get my chocolate, am I?" I muttered under my breath.

* * *

oOo

* * *

You know, there are dumb plans. There are also stupid plans. There are also plans that make you wonder whether the person who thought of them was high on opium or some other such narcotic.

And then there are the plans that make you want to hit the person over the head with something particularly hard until you knock some sense into them (or until they die, whichever comes first I suppose).

This was one of those plans. Ciel and Lau were hiding behind one of the pillars in the front room. I was hiding inside a vent in the wall because there wasn't anywhere else to hide, and I was still pissed off at Lau. I would probably have killed him if Bard and Finny hadn't restrained me.

See, his _master plan _was to have Ran Mao sit on the banister of the staircase and _seduce _ Sebastian into stopping for the ten seconds needed (or confuse the hell out of him, at the very least. Seriously, who wouldn't be confused to see a strange, barely dressed Chinese girl sitting on your banister?). She didn't seem to mind the plan at all, and I could only assume that it was because she was one of his prostitutes. I don't know, she didn't tell me when I asked her.

Anyway, I was annoyed with Lau because, initially, he had wanted me to sit with Ran Mao as well. "_The butler seems quite taken with you_," he had commented while narrating the plan to us. And then he had beamed and whipped out a replica of Ran Mao's dress – but in black, white and red – from behind his back. "_And look, I even brought a dress that would fit you!_"

_Just you wait, you perverted Chinese Bastard, _I growled in my head. I could hear the sound of a carriage approaching the mansion. I watched as Sebastian walked past the vent I was in. I heard the door of the mansion open, and a man introduced himself. _Time to see how badly this plan fails,_ I twisted my head to the side so I could see the staircase clearly from my spot.

You can tell that I'm rather pessimistic, can't you?

To give her credit, Ran Mao performed her part rather well. Unfortunately, she only managed to seduce the visitor. Sebastian, on the other hand, just kept walking. You'd think he'd stop for, at least, a few seconds to tell Ran Mao to stop posing provocatively on the staircase banister because she was making the guest rather nervous. Nope, he kept on walking like she wasn't even there.

Once I was sure he wasn't looking, I lifted the vent carefully and slithered behind the nearest pillar. I watched as Lau made a series of random arm movements, and my eyes widened as Finny and Mey-Rin began to fan upwards. The action caused Ran Mao's already very short skirt to flutter even higher, which she also didn't seem too concerned about.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. _I am surrounded by crazy people._

If possible, the guest's eyes grew even wider. He looked like Mey-Rin when she read those _books_ she kept under her bed at night (you know what I mean). Sebastian, on the other hand, was the very picture of concerned nonchalance as he gazed at our guest. "Mr. Jones?" _It's like he can't even see her!_ I marveled at his control.

"Huh?" The poor man looked like he had just been pulled back down to Earth, and very much like he was doubting his own sanity. "Oh, right. I'm coming!" I watched as the man ran after Sebastian and disappeared into the rest of the house.

As soon as I couldn't see them anymore, I stepped out of my hiding place and went to slap Bardroy upside the head. "Ow!" He rubbed his head and glared at me. "What was that for?"

"For trying to take a picture of Ran Mao, when you were supposed to be taking one of Sebastian," I told him with a glare of my own. He rubbed the back of his head and at least had the grace to look embarrassed. "Now what do we do?" I asked when Ciel and Lau walked over.

"How strange," Lau pouted. "I thought that would definitely make the butler stop and stare for a second. How disappointing," he frowned for a second, and then he suddenly smiled and whipped out the dress he had brought for me again. "Still, I think the plan I had for Miss Thalia could work. We could hide you in the meeting room and…"

"THAT'S IT!" I leaped at him, and was just barely restrained by Finny and his magical super strength. He held me around the waist and prevented me from getting any closer to knocking one of Lau's bones out of place. "LET GO OF ME FINNY! I PLAN TO KILL THIS PERVERTED SONOFA-!"

"My, my, she is quite feisty isn't she?" Lau commented easily. His comment only made me struggle even more in my restraints.

"SHUT UP! I WILL KILL YOU! PERVERT!"

"Thalia, calm down!" Ciel glared at me. I pouted but I stopped yelling and struggling, and simply hung limp. Finny removed his arms carefully, and I huffed and glared at Lau. Ciel turned to the still-smiling Chinese man. "Lau, stop goading her, otherwise I will not hesitate to set her loose on you," he warned.

At that, I smirked at him and cracked my knuckles for emphasis. Lau only smiled and held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"Thalia…" I turned back to Ciel and noticed him beckoning for me to follow him. He turned to the rest of the servants, and Lau with an irritated expression. "The rest of you can continue thinking up your rather harebrained schemes. Just make sure they don't include fire or turning my mansion into a brothel."

Bard wilted a bit, and Lau shrugged resignedly. I made the universal gesture of _I'm watching you_ at him and turned to follow Ciel.

We walked to his office. He was deep in thought and I was…not exactly deep in thought, but rather unwilling to talk. I wasn't much of a talker or a conversationalist anyway, so the walk was pretty silent. Suddenly, something occurred to me and I looked down at Ciel curiously.

"Hey, Ciel, I'm curious, who is the visitor we have anyway?" I asked him.

Ciel stopped walking. We had arrived in front of his study and I pushed the door open for him without thinking. "He is a representative for a business newspaper," Ciel replied as he walked in ahead of me. I watched as he took his seat and rested his chin on his palm. "He is here to interview the owner of the Phantom Company."

I blinked and hopped onto his desk, a move that would probably have been condemned by Ciel had it been committed anyone else, but because it was me he let it slide. I was special that way. "And that is you…isn't it?"

My question didn't really need to be answered, but Ciel replied me anyway, and without sarcasm. "Yes, it is. But I am still young, and it would be bad for the company's image if the owner was but a child."

I considered this for a moment, and then shrugged. "It shouldn't be. You should be proud of it, of what you've managed to achieve even though you're young. Most people, especially young people, can never hope to come close to this…"

My thoughts drifted to my mother, to the time of my life that could only be called a living nightmare. And then I noticed Ciel staring at me out of his uncovered eye. "You're stroking your ring," he commented. I started and looked down at my hands. The thumb of my left hand smoothed over the cold facets of the ruby on the ring finger of my other hand. "Where did you get that gem, anyway?"

I knew he would ask that. I paused my motion and contemplated telling him, and then I squashed the idea. This was not the time. "I can't tell you now," I crossed my arms, effectively hiding the gem from his line of sight. "Besides, we have to plan a way to get Sebastian to stop for ten seconds!"

Ciel looked annoyed at first, and then he sighed and went back to his thoughts. The study was silent as I watched the young Earl stare fixedly at the tin toy soldiers surrounding the grey, iron sheep. My eyes were fixed on the ceiling as I alternated my thoughts between the past, Ciel, and Sebastian. A part of me was considering how pointless the whole day had been. Another part of me was wondering whether Lau would consider giving me the dress.

Not because I was considering becoming a prostitute, but because those dresses allowed more freedom of movement than my maid outfit did. _I could wear them with stockings or something…_I mused silently. _But then people would stare at me a lot…_

"To stop that thing for ten seconds…" Ciel spoke suddenly. I looked at him curiously when he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This was the last thing I wanted to do, but I suppose I have no choice if we are to get him to stay still."

Worry bubbled in my chest and my eyes narrowed. "Ciel," I began warily. "Just what are you thinking of doing? It isn't anything too…dangerous, right?"

He chose to ignore me, which left me to worry in silence until Sebastian came in with a plate of cakes, at which point I promptly stopped worrying. "Today I have prepared the Devil Dog cake from our trip to Houndsworth," Sebastian placed a plate of three small cakes made to look like a dog's paws in front of Ciel, as well as a cup of tea.

Ciel stabbed one with a fork and held it up with a look that was part confusion, and part irritation. "Why does something like this exist?" He muttered as he ate one.

I grinned. "Bard, Mey-Rin, Finny and I bought a lot of it when we went into the town for a while. It was really cheap, and rather popular for something with such morbid connotations," I shuddered when I remembered the creepy town and it's creepy villagers. "I think I ate all of mine though…" I said to no one in particular. "They were really good though…"

Ciel ate another one and changed the subject. "How did the article go?"

"Tanaka showed his formidable strength as the company president," Sebastian reported. "In my opinion, I feel that the interview went quite well." _Tanaka? But, he's tiny most of the time! How long did he last in his normal human form? Not long, I'm guessing._ I kept my thoughts to myself and pretended to be transfixed by the shapes on the ceiling.

"I see," Ciel smiled a smile that was slightly self-depreciating. "Well, it's not like I could be the face of the company at the moment."

Sebastian smiled as well. I watched him out of the corner of my eyes. "There was also a photograph taken at the end of the interview," he commented with perfect casualness. I remembered the first time I had seen him, when I had noticed that air of perfection, and I considered what made that aura so terrifying.

To give him credit, Ciel was also quite good at lying. "Oh," he feigned an air of rather mild interest and poked another cake with his fork. "A photograph?"

"Yes," Sebastien nodded slightly, still smiling. "Lately, it seems the fashion is to have a photograph accompany an article." Ciel hummed slightly. "Young master, why don't you take one as well? You could have it done with Miss Thalia." My eyes widened and I realized that he was looking right at me.

_Shit, does he know what we've been doing? I bet he does. Stupid demon butler!_

Out loud, I said: "Hahahaha, no," I hopped off the table. "Photogenic, I am not. I'll see you later, Ci – young master," I corrected myself hastily. For some reason, it felt a little awkward to be calling Ciel by his first name in front of Sebastian, now that I was officially working for him. I quickly opened the door and shut it behind me. I could still hear them through the door.

"Was she about to call you by your name, young master?" Sebastian sounded like he was smirking.

"Wipe that look off your face, Sebastian," Ciel snapped. There was a pause, and then Ciel spoke again. "Oi, did she take one of my cakes?"

I quickly popped the white-chocolate flavoured treat into my mouth and skipped down the halls towards the kitchen. The house had been oddly quiet while I had been with Ciel, and I was worried that in my absence, someone had died and the others were trying to hide the body.

**No One's POV**

Ciel glared down at his empty plate. If Thalia hadn't taken one of the cakes, he'd still have one more left to eat. The girl shared his love of sweet things, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.

Ever since he had seen her, he couldn't shake the thought that he had seen her somewhere before, or at least like he somehow _knew _her. There was something undeniably familiar about her.

You would think that someone with such a unique hair colour would be easy to spot and easier to remember, but the memory seemed to be buried under so many and searching through them only served to give him a headache.

Sebastian noticed the dark, contemplative glare on the young boy's face, but didn't say anything. Why would he, when Thalia's scent still hung about the room like a rapidly disappearing shadow? Something about her drew him to her, and he wasn't sure what. He recalled the afternoon, the way she had flushed when he came close to her. Had she never been with a man?

The thought that she might actually still be pure sent a surprisingly hungry thrill skittering through him. He yearned for her, for her taste, her warmth, for the chance to take her and taint her with his mark.

He smirked slightly and considered his thoughts. He was beginning to have an idea of why he desired her so much…

"Sebastian…" The butler turned to his young master, not a trace of his previous thoughts showing on his face. Ciel wasn't looking at him anyway, so he needn't have bothered so much. "Since Thalia is new to the mansion, and unused to servant work, I want her to assist you in preparing tonight's dinner."

Sebastian arched an eyebrow. In reality, Thalia was actually quite used to the jobs of a maid. She could dust and sweep and wash clothes as well as the next maid. It was the fact that she had to act subservient to a bunch of, in her own words, _money-hungry, pompous bastards _that grated on her nerves.

Of course, she had earned a thwack on her ear, courtesy of Sebastian, as he reminded her that young women weren't permitted to use such language. The injury had only caused her to swear again, louder this time, and then sprint from the room when he lifted his hand again with that peculiar, closed-eyes smile of his.

Of course, Sebastian said none of this. Instead, he smirked and bowed. "Yes, my lord."

**Reviews are always appreciated! **


	8. Scars and Marks

**So my writing for this chapter may be a bit off kilter because I had serious writer's block for this. I'm not even kidding, I don't even know how it ended up this long because my brain seemed like it was on ground zero. *Sigh* anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

**I don't own Kuroshitsuji.**

**Scars and Marks**

Ciel didn't leave his study for the rest of the day, which wasn't so surprising so I didn't think too much of it. What I _was_ wary of, however, was that I hadn't really seen much of Mey-Rin and Finny, or of the Chinese pervert and his accomplice for quite a while. I wondered, as I traipsed around the rooms and dusted the parlour rooms, if they had both left.

Later that evening, Sebastian shooed Bard out of the kitchen so he could prepare the night's dinner. This was the usual thing done in order to avoid the kitchen, or the food, exploding. Also, the last time Bard cooked dinner I found TNT in my fish. So, yeah…

The odd thing, though, was that Bard actually _left_. Just like that, without even an argument. He just grunted something vaguely insulting under his breath, and then left the kitchen hurriedly. I stared after the blonde man curiously as he slipped past me and disappeared into the corridor. "Huh," I folded my arms across my chest and rested my back against the doorframe. "Well that was suspicious."

"Indeed," Sebastian didn't look surprised in the slightest. It probably took a lot to shock him, I figured. "Thalia…" I took my weight off the doorframe and turned to look at him curiously. And then I wondered how he always managed to get so close to me without me noticing. Normally, I was very good at sensing people.

_Oh yeah, he's not a person. Well, not quite… _

"Yes?" I snapped out the cloth in my hand that I had been using to dust. I had only come to the kitchen to throw it into the drawer we kept these things in.

Sebastian smirked down at me with his typical polite, _I-may-look-like-I'm-innocent-but-in-reality-I-will-probably-do-something-very-bad-to-you-soon_ expression. I was immediately on guard. "The young master has asked that you assist me in preparing dinner."

I frowned. Ciel? Ciel wanted me to spend the next two hours trapped in the company of this pervert? _Ciel, why don't you love me? I thought we were friends! Is it because I stole your cake? Because I do not regret that at all!_

_Okay,_ I paled a little when Sebastian leaned closer to me, his eyes gleaming in the light from the bulb, _maybe I do regret it just a little… _"Uh, Sebastian?" I leaned further away from him in an attempt to put sufficient distance between us. "What are you doing…?"

Suddenly, Sebastian's arm slid into the space between my arm and my hip. I blushed and reached up to shove him away. He barely budged, and instead I got a relatively good feel of his chest underneath the shirt. He had taken off his jacket and the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his shoulders.

"Why, nothing Thalia," he smirked down at me, eyes roving my face. "What's wrong, _my lady_?" Fake concern dripped from every word, barely covering how seductive his voice had become. "Are you alright?"

"This is _not _nothing," I hissed back at him, trying to move out of his arms. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Let go of me!" I took a huge step backwards…

…and my back hit the previously open door.

Oh, that was what he had been reaching for. He had shut me inside.

_Shit._ The word ran through my head more than once as Sebastian grinned down at me. His eyes were glowing red-pink and swirling with energy. I felt like a deer in front of a hunter, only there was nowhere to run and my only escape point had been barred. "Let go of me!" I snarled and tried to kick him. He shifted his legs so that he was pinning me to the door with his weight. I suddenly felt a flash of cold panic.

His hands left the doorknob behind me and gripped my hand, the one I had burned when we were in Houndsworth. The memory made me blush harder and avoid his eyes, especially when he lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a surprisingly tender kiss to the knuckle. "Does it still hurt?"

I blinked, surprised at his question, and even more surprised at the fact that he actually seemed a genuinely concerned about it. "Uh…no, not anymore?" In my confusion, the statement came out sounding more like a question. Besides, even if it had hurt, I probably would have told him the same thing. I was used to getting bruises and scars, and part of that was getting used to the pain that came with them. "Thanks for asking I guess…"

_Now, if you could just take several steps backwards and maintain a minimum of at least four feet of distance between us then that would be great._

For a second it seemed like he was actually going to move away and start on dinner. I exhaled softly with relief, and then he spotted something on my wrist. His face darkened and he scowled. I blinked and followed his gaze. He was staring at one of my old scars.

I had to admit, it had been particularly bad gash. The scar left behind was kind of ugly and thin, and it went from my wrist, up my arm and stopped just shy of my elbow.

Sebastian grabbed my arm with surprising gentleness that didn't tally with how annoyed he suddenly seemed. Still, his voice barely betrayed his emotions. "How did you get this?" His fingers traced the darker line of skin until it disappeared underneath the rolled up sleeve of my uniform.

I frowned and batted his fingers away harshly. "Why do you care?" I snapped as I tugged my sleeve down so it covered the scar properly. He arched his eyebrows, apparently slightly surprised by the vehemence in my tone. I immediately felt bad. "Look, none my scars have particularly good memories," I told him. I gave him another shove. This time he moved so I could get past him.

"Where did that one come from?" He asked as I moved past him.

I huffed and threw the duster onto the counter. "If you must know, that one came as a result of someone trying to…uh…you know what? Screw that story," I suddenly felt embarrassed and not in the mood to share anecdotes.

Sebastian arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh? Now you've piqued my interest, Thalia. Won't you tell me?"

"Not a chance in hell," I stuck my tongue out at him. He smirked at my words, and I remembered that he was a demon so of course he would find that amusing. I rolled my eyes but cracked a smile back. "Now," I eyed the plethora of spices, vegetables and cooking utensils on the table. There was even a chicken. "What are we making?"

"What am _I _making," he corrected, nudging me out of the way. "Dinner is Rouen-style duck, and I'll be preparing it."

"Aw, why?" I asked, picking up a thin, particularly sharp cooking knife and eying it critically. "I can cook! Well," I amended. "I don't put explosives inside the food anyway." I hadn't really cooked in a while, but I knew how to prepare basic dishes. "Besides," I added, seeing that he had already started peeling the carrots. "Ciel said I should _assist_ you. Give me something to do!"

He ignored me. I sighed and gazed at the ingredients on the table curiously. What I had previously thought was chicken, was actually a whole duck. Beside it was a bowl of green olives. I stabbed an olive with the knife and ate it. _Mmm, olives are good_. I ate another one.

I turned to face him with the bowl in my hands. "Sebastian, if you don't give me something to do, I'll eat all the ingredients! Well, except the tomatoes and the raw vegetables," I amended quickly, eating another olive, "and, of course, I can't eat a raw duck. But I will eat everything else! And then you won't have enough things to cook with and your cooking won't taste as perfect as it usually does! And then Ciel will yell at you and order you to cook something else, and if you don't let me help again then this is going to end up being a very vicious cycle!"

He stopped peeling the carrots and turned to stare at me with an odd look on his face. I stared back at him blankly, refusing to regret my earlier monologue or feel embarrassed whatsoever. After a lengthy staring contest, he capitulated. "Fine," he sighed. "Come here and help me dice the ginger."

I squealed gleefully and dropped the bowl of olives back on the table. I quickly hopped over to his side. On my first try, I nearly sliced my fingers off.

"No, you're not holding the knife correctly," Sebastian grabbed my hand and positioned it accordingly. "Hold it firmly and angle it slightly," his lips were by my ear and his arms were circling my body. I could feel his body behind me, just a little shy of pressing me into the counter.

My face flamed and I lowered my head so he wouldn't see how red I'd gone. "Yeah, yeah, I got it," I muttered, feeling flustered at our close contact. He released me with an amused smile and, for the next few minutes, we didn't really speak apart from the occasional murmur of '_I'm done_' from me, and Sebastian's quiet words of advice when I looked like I was about to lose a digit or several.

Finally, the duck was placed in the oven to roast. I exhaled loudly and stretched. "Oh my god, that took _so_ _damn long_," I tugged my hair free from the low bun I had tied it in while we were cooking. I ran my hair through the damp, sweat-and-water-vapour-soaked strands. My eyes narrowed at Sebastian when I saw him rolling down the sleeves of his shirt. He looked perfectly put together, without a strand of hair out of place. "I hate you," I scowled. "How do you do this so easily?"

He smirked and buttoned the cuffs. "What kind of butler would I be if I allowed such a small thing to disturb me?"

I arched an eyebrow. "I don't know," I said. "A normal one?" He chuckled slightly and I went back to trying to air out my hair before I braided it. Suddenly, I felt hands on my shoulders and a presence behind me. "Uh, Sebastian, what are you doing?" I asked warily.

"There is something on your neck," he replied. "May I see what it is?"

I shrugged and dropped my arms. "It's probably another scar," I told him as he parted my hair to reveal the nape of my neck. I couldn't see him at all, but I felt the way he suddenly tensed behind me. For a few seconds, he seemed well and truly shell-shocked. "Sebastian?" I turned my head so I could see him from the corner of my eye. "Are you alright?"

He was silent for a moment, and then he spoke in a rough voice that was so low that I knew I wasn't really supposed to hear him. "Well…" he hummed. "This explains so much."

"Explains what?" I asked him. I felt his gloved fingers brush against the back of my neck and I jerked. "Hey, what was that?" The sudden fillip of energy that had hit me the second his fingers touched me was surprising, to say the least. He released my hair with a strange reluctance and I turned to stare at him curiously. "What's on my neck?" _Please don't let it be something like the beginnings of some lethal disease!_

Sebastian stared down at me with an intensity I had never seen before, and then his eyes widened and he was seeing beyond me. Then he smirked and walked towards the kitchen door, grabbing his suit jacket along the way and arranging himself. "I suppose it's my turn now."

I followed him, wondering what was going on. "Your turn for what?" I asked. _Why does it feel like everyone is conniving to confuse me? _"What the hell is going on?"

We ran outside. Well, I did. Sebastian abandoned me sometime between the time we got out of the kitchen, and when we reached the front door. I was still confused as to how he managed to disappear so quickly and without me noticing.

_Damn that demon,_ I thought as I pushed open the door and raced out into the cool, night air. For a second, I couldn't see anything, and then I heard sounds coming from the forest at the back of the mansion. I could see something happening, and then I heard a huge crash like stone shattering.

_Ciel!_ I feared the absolute worst. I ran to the back and gasped. For a minute, all I could see was dust. Slowly, it began to clear and I almost sagged with relief. Ciel was lying on the ground, Sebastian kneeling above him. There were a giant, white marble wings on his back, the remains of an angel statue lying a few metres away. "CIEL!"

"Thalia?" The young boy turned to me and barely had time to say anything before I ran over to him, shoved Sebastian out of the way (to his surprise and slight annoyance) and hugged him tightly. "Thalia…?"

"THE HELL MAN?" I half-yelled, half-sobbed into his hair. "DON'T FREAKING TERRIFY ME LIKE THAT AGAIN OR I WILL KILL YOU! SCREW THIS, SCREW SEBASTIAN, though I am actually grateful that he saved you and shit, BUT I JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT!" I was really upset, as you can tell by my hysterical babbling and yelling. Who wouldn't be? I really cared about Ciel, alright? Of course I was going to freaking panic!

Sebastian's eyebrows twitched but I ignored him, still intent on hugging Ciel who was patting me on the head like I was a puppy that needed to be calmed down. Suddenly, fireworks lit the air as the giant Chinese dragons that I had not seen before began spewing the colourful sparks into the air.

Lau and the Chinese girl, Ran Mao, walked out from behind one. "Now, isn't this a wonderful scene?" Lau smiled at us like all of this was perfectly normal and alright. _Hey, Chinese bastard, you and I still have problems._

Ciel stopped patting me. I pulled away as he turned to Sebastian. "You're late," he snapped.

"I'm sorry," Sebastian apologised. "I was making preparations for tonight's dinner…"

I exhaled with relief that all was well, and then I noticed Mey-Rin in the bushes with the camera. _Don't tell me this was all some harebrained scheme in order to get Sebastian to stop for a few seconds! _I seethed internally. _GODDAMMIT CIEL! _

"You could have just ordered me to let you take it," Sebastian suddenly said. We both turned to him Ciel with surprise, and me with realisation. _Oh yeah,_ I tapped my chin thoughtfully. _We could have actually just done that. _Sebastian bowed slightly. "Whatever you order me to do, I will do right away."

_Still, _I thought as I rested back on my haunches and smiled slightly._ That takes the fun out of everything._

I stared at the earl with amusement at the shocked look on his face. _You should have known he would know, Ciel. I wonder if he'll admit everything or deny it all._

Ciel chose the path of denial, just as I had expected. "Tch," he scoffed, looking away. "What are you talking about?" Sebastian smirked wider.

"Who knows?" I smiled, helping Ciel to his feet. "Come on, let's go back inside."

oOo

After dinner, Bard approached me to ask if I wanted to see the picture being developed. "Dontcha want ta see who your butler cares for most of all?" He taunted me.

I glared at the blond man. "Okay, one, he is not _my _butler," I snapped. "And I will throw you over the balcony if you suggest it again."

"Geez," he smirked. "You're even as violent as he is."

"Over the balcony," I repeated warningly. "I can, and I will. Remember that. And two, I feel like there are some things about Sebastian that aren't meant to be known. I have been through way too much today and I just want to curl up somewhere with Morgan and sleep until the next apocalypse. Or until tomorrow morning."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself," he walked away. I watched him go and then went back to washing the dishes. I walked out of the kitchen a few minutes later and headed for Ciel's study to tell him goodnight. Suddenly, I was very nearly barrelled over by Pluto.

You know, I feel like that dog…person…whatnot, really has a thing for knocking me over.

"Hey, Pluto, no running in the house!" I crouched down in front of him. He smelled like fire, and smoke. "Pluto, did you breathe fire in the house?" I scratched him under the chin. He yipped in response and panted happily. I chuckled. "What poor soul did you choose to incinerate this time?" I wondered.

"I'm sure you can guess." I looked up. Sebastian smirked and knelt down beside me in front of Pluto. "Well done," he patted Pluto on the head. "I suppose dogs are useful in their own way," he acquiesced, handing Pluto a dog treat. The devil dog snatched the treat and began chomping down on it happily. "Sleep outside tonight," he told Pluto.

I arched an eyebrow. "Is it really that important to you that Ciel not know who you care for most?" I asked him curiously. "I didn't even think demons could even care for anything."

He shrugged and got to his feet. I followed suit. "We don't love like humans," he explained. "But all demons have something like a soul mate. A particular being that they can…_care_ for, so to speak." His gaze fixed on me and I felt a bit nervous standing there under his gaze. "Most demons rarely find their mate, though."

I nodded and looked away. "Oh, well…that sort of makes sense," I scratched the back of my head and took a step back, away from him. "I should…uh…say goodnight to Ciel…" I shifted backwards some more along the wall, and reached for the door of the study. Sebastian did nothing to stop me and, instead, followed me into the study.

Ciel was sitting asleep at his chair, chin propped up on one fist. Sebastian sighed. "Sleeping out here like this," he muttered. "How sloppy. Now the number of unnecessary jobs has increased because of this uselessly elaborate prank."

"Hey," I defended. "It wasn't _all_ useless. We did get a picture in the end, but you sent Pluto to incinerate it!"

Sebastian smirked at me. "I don't know why you're defending him," he commented. "You _are_ going to have to help clean it up."

I glowered at him. "Dammit," I huffed. "Well, Ciel must have been really tired," I shrugged, leaning over him. I brushed a finger through his hair gently. "We should get him to bed…"

"We should," Sebastian agreed, his eyes on something else. I followed his gaze. He was staring at the mystical camera on the table. "Or…we could do something much more interesting before that." I looked at the camera, and then I looked back at him with a wide smirk of my own.

"Let's do it."

Outside, Pluto howled.

oOo

"Oh Ciel," I hugged the young, blushing earl tightly over his breakfast. "I'm so glad you love me just as much as I love you! It's so nice to know that you appreciate my love even though you're so mean to me anyway!"

"_Gack!_" he choked slightly, flailing his arms. "Thalia, stop it! You know you were only in the picture because you were standing there!"

He was right. Still… "A girl can dream anyway!" I cheered happily. "I love you too!"

Ciel gasped for air in my embrace, and then scowled at me. "Well, what about you? Sebastian was in the picture. That means that the person you care most for is him, right?"

I stopped hugging Ciel and scowled at him when he smirked right back at me. I could see Sebastian smirking at us from behind the earl. "Or it could be you," I reminded him in a sing-song voice. "He is _your_ butler."

Ciel blanched, which caused me to smirk triumphantly. "Whatever the case is," Ciel glared back at me. "One of us cares for that soul-sucking demon a lot."

We both turned at the same time and stared at Sebastian for a moment, and then stared each other silently for a few more seconds. During this time, neither of us said a word. Ciel opened his mouth to say something. "It's not me!" I yelled loudly before he could say anything, and then I beamed cheerfully and skipped out of the room.

I heard screams from outside and spotted Pluto chasing Bard and Mey-Rin up and down the gardens. _Everyone here is crazy and mysterious,_ I grinned as Pluto blew a plume of fire at the running figures. _I guess that's why I fit in so easily!_


	9. Winter Wonderland

**Me: So, yeah, I've started on the missing arc. Ugh, I don't even understand how I managed to skip over three whole episodes**

**Thalia: Maybe you were just excited? *is suddenly carried away by a dark shape***

**Me: Maybe...anyway, here we go. This mistake means I'm going to have to do a lot of remodelling so that everything goes back to flowing. Thalia, can you do the disclaimer? Thalia? *looks around* Huh, she was just here a second ago...anyway! I don't own Black Butler!**

**Winter Wonderland**

A week had passed since the whole insanity with the mysterious camera (which Ciel sold promptly at an auction). The days had gotten colder, and the snow had begun to fall more steadily and with greater weight.

Anyway, as I was saying, a week later I received a package in the mail, which was surprising as I didn't know really know anyone, and no one outside the mansion really knew me. All I knew was that, when I went outside to get the mail, there was a brown paper parcel with my name on it.

I walked back into the house and dropped the other letters on the table in the parlour. "Huh…" I hummed as I pulled the strings of my parcel apart just as Sebastian came to get Ciel's mail. "I wonder what it…oh shit," I immediately covered up the contents of the package and turned my back on Sebastian so he couldn't see it. _Damn that evil, Chinese bastard!_ I cursed his very being from the bottom of my heart. _I knew I should have killed him when I had the chance!_

Sebastian looked interested at my reaction. He smirked. "Oh, what was in the package, Thalia?" He asked, leaning closer so he could see over my shoulder. I immediately curled over further to block his view of what was in my arms.

What was it, really, you ask? Well, if you must know, inside the package was that dress Lau had wanted me to wear before, when he'd wanted me to be the one to seduce Sebastian. The dress looked a lot like Ran Mao's dress, only it was silver, with black vines and red flowers. The outfit even came with a pair of sheer, black sock and shoes. How he had my size, I'll never know. _Well, _I snarled internally, _he does dabble in prostitutes. _

Sebastian cocked his head to the side and smiled down at me mockingly. "Your reaction has piqued my interest," he leaned closer. "Now I'm curious. Won't you tell me what it is?"

I paled. I would chop off all my hair before I let Sebastian see that dress of my own volition. The sheer embarrassment I would suffer would kill me. I'd sooner burn it. "No way!" I pulled the brown paper further around the fabric and pushed it behind me. "Besides," I scowled up at him. "It's rude for a man to interrogate a lady about her belongings."

He arched an eyebrow, probably thinking the same thing I was. _If I'm a lady, then you're an angel. _I snickered under my breath at that thought. "Maybe," he acquiesced. "But it is my duty to know all the going's on in the house…" he began to reach for me.

"Sebastian." He turned at the voice. I leaned a little way to the side and spotted Ciel standing in the middle of the stairs, his one visible eye narrowed in obvious displeasure. "May I have a word with you?"

Sebastian frowned, before finally removing himself from my personal bubble. I heaved a quick breath of relief, and ran to the kitchen to find Bardroy. "Bard!" I yelled, and then I sweatdropped when he yelped and dropped the unlit stick of dynamite in his hand. "The hell man?"

He blushed angrily. "Just wanted to practise my cooking skills," he grumbled, kicking the stick under the counter and out of sight. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, during which he stared at the ground and I just stared at him. Finally he coughed and faced me. "What do you want anyway?" He folded his arms and glared at me.

I shook my head a few times. "I'm going to need a bottle of gasoline, some gunpowder and several matchsticks. Okay, go!" I made a shooing motion with my free hand. The other hand was occupied holding the cursed dress out of sight. Bard just stared at me blankly. I sighed. "Come on, it's not that hard. I just need several highly flammable objects!" I made another shooing motion. "Like now. Right now."

He blinked at me, face still blank, and then he sighed and walked away. "_You crazy woman_," I heard him mutter under his breath as he disappeared to, hopefully, get the things I had asked for.

I stashed the dress in my room, shoving it under my pillow so I'd remember to burn it before I went to bed. _I wonder what Ciel wanted to talk to Sebastian about. _Whatever it was, it had to be important. Unless, of course, Ciel just wanted to order him to bake something sweet. Something Ciel and I had in common: we both had an obsessive love for sweet treats.

Sebastian still hadn't come out of Ciel's study by the time I came out of my room. I paused in front of the door and debated walking in. Ciel would let me. Unless, he wouldn't, and he had called Sebastian away for something that didn't concern me.

I wondered if this was another case in the making. Yes, sure I had only been present during one case, and I hadn't been very helpful (apart from occasionally knocking a few people unconscious), but I did want to be present to help take care of Ciel. For all his bravado and calm, _I-don't-give-a-flying-fuck_ attitude, he was still a child and he didn't know how to take care of himself.

I exhaled a puff of depressed air, and made my way downstairs. _I should probably find something to do. _Sebastian had already cleaned up the house. I wasn't in the mood to talk to Mey-Rin at the moment. I couldn't even go outside and play with Pluto, since it was snowing and really cold outside. Even Pluto had taken to blowing plumes of fire at sporadic intervals to keep himself warm.

Therefore, I was left with nothing else to do but roam through the mansion like some dual-toned ghost.

Finally, I mooched into the empty kitchen and dropped down onto one of the chairs. _Maybe I should just go disturb Ciel and Sebastian,_ I pouted at nothing. _At least then I'll have _some_ entertainment. _I reached across the table and began to play with the hilt of a small knife that had been left there. It was rather sharp, almost dagger-like.

I twirled it absentmindedly; point down on the table, the wooden hilt between my thumb and forefinger. I smiled, remembering the times when I used to be able to use knives like pencils and paintbrushes. _Are my skills still as sharp?_ Probably not. it had been about five months since I'd lost my knives while running from a group of armed thugs.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to test. At any rate, it would give me something to do for a while. I stood up and aimed for a spot on the wall. The small knife felt uncomfortable in my hands, and it was unsuitable for throwing. Still, I managed to only be about two inches off. I ripped the knife out of the wall and aimed again.

"What are you doing?" I yelped and nearly stabbed myself in the foot when he knife dropped. Sebastian was standing beside me, eyes narrowed. His eyes darted from the knife, to the thin cut in the wall, and then back to me.

I exhaled a sigh of relief. "Geez, don't scare me like that," I grabbed the knife from the ground. "I take it that you and Ciel are done with your little chat?" I twirled the knife carefully, mindful of the sharp edge. To think, I used to be able to do this with hardly a care. Ah well, I'd just practice again. "And, if you must know, I was practicing my knife throwing."

The side of his mouth turned up slightly in a small smirk. "Something like that," Sebastian arched an eyebrow curiously. "You never mentioned that you could throw knives though," he remarked.

I shrugged. "I don't think it ever came up. I lost my old knives a few months ago, so I've been out of practice. I can still do it, but I don't have the right kind of knives."

Sebastian hummed lightly, and then he made his way over to me. He plucked the knife from my hands. "Still," he frowned, staring at the edge of the razor. "I don't think I appreciate you using the kitchen utensils as weapons. You might spoil them."

I stared at Sebastian blankly. Something about having an ancient, malevolent being standing in front of me worrying about kitchen knives suddenly struck me as insanely funny, and I began to cackle with laughter. Sebastian stared at me quietly, and then he sighed resignedly. I laughed even harder at that, so hard that I ended up on the floor gasping for breath between spurts of laughter.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, and then he suddenly turned on his heels and began to leave the kitchen. "Well then, if you aren't interested in the case the young master is currently investigating, then you don't have to come with us."

It was enough to make me sober up instantly. "New case?" I sat up. "What kind of case?" But he wasn't listening to me, he was already walking down the corridor towards the front door. "Oi, I said I'm coming!" I jumped up and ran after him. "Sebastian, don't you dare leave me behind!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

The carriage dropped us off on the outskirts of what appeared to be a giant fair. There were tents cooing around the frozen lake and beyond. People were milling about, laughing, talking, eating things they had bought from the tents. Children were chasing each other up and down and giggling in the snow. There were game tents where you could win prizes for completing tasks.

All in all, it was a wonderland for me. Still, I kept my excitement in check and moved behind Ciel. "I see," Sebastian hummed. "The Ice Top Market is truly something." In the old days , I could have pulled in some easy money in such a crowd. People with good spirits and plenty of money were always happy to watch a cute, sprightly street urchin performing some fancy acrobatics

We passed by a statue of the queen. I was sure I saw something glinting on her finger, but I passed it off as some ice. I turned to face Ciel when he spoke. "The Frost Fair takes place next to London bridge, on the frozen Thames River," he said. He stopped walking and eyed all the tents. "The last time it was this grand was back in 1814, apparently."

I pulled my coat tighter around myself. It was black with white fluff around the face and hems, like Ciel's. The coat was actually brand new, and because I had never owned anything so pretty, I was nearly terrified of wearing it and then ruining it in some way. I spotted a tent advertising some really cute teddy bears as prizes. "Is it wrong that I really want to play one of those?"

Ciel sighed, and yanked me by my wrist. "Pay attention Thalia," he snapped. I pouted, but followed obediently.

"Step right up!" We passed by a man standing in front of a tent full of random, second-hand looking knick-knacks. "Step right up! We've got bargains to send Jack Frost flying! How about it?"

Ciel paused in front of his tent and stared inside. I scoffed. "Why does everything inside that tent look so substandard?" I muttered quietly. Ciel smirked, and I knew he agreed with me.

"All the wares in that tent look shoddy," he agreed. "If the ice freezes over like this next year, we could clean up nicely with a stall. Nothing as careless as this, though. Take that for example," he pointed at something with his cane. I followed his gaze to a worn-looking, but relatively dust-free toy model of Noah's Ark.

The owner of the tent turned to us with a wide, salesperson smile. "You have a good eye, young nobleman!" He gestured to the boat. "This is a special item made by the Funtom Company when it was still a small craft shop."

Ciel frowned derisively. "What a total fake," he said, but not so loudly that the man could hear. "The Phantom Ark was made by the most skilled craftsmen, and it was extremely rare and valuable because only three were ever made. Ever since the mansion burned down, even the current company doesn't have the real item anymore. There's no way that would be a real one."

I stared at the ark in the shop curiously. When I was younger, and my mom was still alive, sometimes she used to take walks with me on her days off. We would walk to the park and buy crepes, and eat them standing beside the park fountain. Then she would show me how to fold paper boats and let them float across the water. I always hoped that they would float forever, but that was just a silly childish fantasy. Slowly, the water would seep into the paper, weighing it down until it disappeared under the surface.

Because I was so into my own thoughts, I didn't hear what Sebastian said. I did hear his last statement though. "_It is a most arrogant tale._"

I blinked and turned to him curiously. "What-?"

"You!" The three of us turned to stare at the man that had come up to us. His face looked vaguely familiar to me, but then I had seen a lot of policemen in my lifetime. They were all beginning to look the same to me now.

Ciel smirked. "I suppose if one of Scotland Yard's detectives has enough time to come here then London must really be at peace."

He scowled at Ciel. "I don't!" he snapped. "I'm on duty right now!"

"Really?" Ciel turned back to him. "Well then make sure you work hard enough to earn your keep, on behalf of her majesty and the people of London." He spun on his heel and we began to walk in the opposite direction.

I suddenly heard footsteps behind us. "Wait, there's something I would like to ask you!" He called. Even though he wasn't speaking to me, those words had been said to me by police officers before. It probably didn't mean the same thing for Ciel, but for me it meant _we're going to detain you indefinitely and, if you don't play nice, we'll throw you in jail. No one's going to miss one street rat._

Okay, so maybe those exact words had been said to me and I was just reacting from a bad experience, but react I would. Which was why, when the inspector's hand reached for Ciel's shoulder, I promptly slapped it away. "Sorry," I smiled at him sweetly. "But could you not do that, please?"

Sebastian was smirking, like what I had done was amusing. "Our young master is very fragile," he said. "So we would appreciate it if you didn't lay your hands on him so forcefully."

The inspector frowned at both of, especially at me. "Who is this?" He asked Ciel. "I have seen your butler before many times, but not her." I beamed cheerily at the man as Ciel glanced at me blankly.

He sighed. "This is Thalia," he said. "Thalia, this is inspector Aberlain of Scotland Yard." I waved at him cheerfully. "If you want to talk," Ciel faced the inspector. "Then I suppose it would be best if we found somewhere more comfortable to sit."

Luckily, there was a large restaurant situated rather close by. It reminded me a lot of Lau, I decided, eying the colours and decorations and the scantily-clad serving girls. I remembered the present still in my room, and shuddered. Sebastian gave me a strange look, but I didn't say anything to him.

Sebastian held the tent entrance aside for Ciel, and then the young earl turned to us. "Wait outside for me," he ordered.

I groaned. "What?" I folded my arms inside my coat. "But it's freezing out here!" He arched an eyebrow at me like _am I supposed to care?_ I sighed. "Do I at least get a cookie?"

"No." The curtain swung shut, and then it was just me and Sebastian. How more awkward could things get? I sighed and turned to lean against the somewhat firm surface of the tent. I could sense Sebastian staring at me, and I tried to shrink back further into my coat.

He smirked. "I must say, the image of you trying to hide from me is rather endearing." I bristled at that, and turned to him with a scowl. "Oh, you're not hiding anymore?" He came closer to me, eyes lighting up as he stopped right in front of me. "That's fine then. I enjoy it when you put up a fight."

I had to look nearly straight up to make eye contact with him. "You are a very strange creature, did you know that?" I folded my arms across my chest and glared up at him defiantly. "Also, I am not putting up a fight for your entertainment!"

"But I can't help but find it entertaining anyway," he suddenly tipped my chin up with a single, gloved finger. "Your defiance never fails to amuse me, dear Thalia." I could feel warmth stealing into my cheeks with his close proximity and the endearment. I stared up at Sebastian with wide eyes.

_The heck? No, nope, bad idea, this is a fucking bad idea! Brain to body, brain to body: abort, abort!_

Unfortunately, my body couldn't seem to move, except for my lips which let out a strangled gasp when he dipped a single finger into the top of my coat and brushed it against the underside of my chin and the top of my throat. "Stop it!" I finally snapped, though my voice caught on the first word. "We're in public, you pervert!"

He raised a single eyebrow. "If you don't like it, you can stop me at any time, Thalia," he told me. _Oh yeah, I can do that can't I?_

As I was trying to get my arm to move and punch Sebastian in the face, at that moment, I spotted a game stall close by with very fluffy toys as prizes. My eyes widened and I promptly forgot Sebastian was practically molesting me in public. "Toys!" I tore myself away from him and ran to the tent with wide, sparkling eyes.

I heard a sigh, and then a low mutter from Sebastian, and then he was beside me as I gazed up at all the toys the game had to offer. The man in charge was rather young, maybe a few years older than I was. He turned to me with a charming smile. "Well hello pretty lady," he flirted. "Care to play? Only a penny a toss!"

Normally when people flirt with me I either get really flustered, or I shoot them down like a moose during hunting season. This time, I did neither, because I was too fascinated by all the toys on display, so all I did was nod enthusiastically and hand him a penny. I was also too distracted to notice the highly annoyed aura emanating from Sebastian. I think my sheer happiness acted like a shield in that respect.

The man winked at me, and grabbed three balls from below the front. "All you have to do is knock down those stacks," he pointed to three stacks of neatly balanced tins. "Knock 'em all down, and you get a prize!" I nodded and lined myself up. I was suddenly glad for my knife throwing skills because there was no way I could miss.

I threw the first ball. I didn't miss, but the tins barely budged. "No way!" I stared. I used up the other two balls on the first stack.

The man in front made an apologetic sound. "Ah, too bad pretty one," he smiled at me. "Care to go again?" I frowned, and lifted my shoulders in an apologetic shrug.

"I would," I told him. "But I don't have that much money on me." I blinked when he suddenly grabbed my hand in his own and brought it closer. _Then_ I started to feel Sebastian's evil aura. It was almost tangible, like smoky black tentacles. His eyes were about a second away from glowing.

The guy was either too stupid, or too cocky to care. "You don't need to pay with money," he smirked at me, and then brought my hand up to his lips. "You can pay with yourself…"

Just before his lips could touch my skin, Sebastian grabbed me and yanked me away from him. "I'd greatly appreciate it if you didn't lay your filthy hands on her," he snarled politely (is such a thing possible? Well he managed it anyway). My eyes widened at the tone of his voice. The arm around my waist was firm and possessive. "Rather," he smiled darkly. "Let _me_ have a go."

Five minutes later, we walked away from the stall laden with fluffy treasures. Well, _I _was laden with fluffy treasures. Sebastian had won me two cute teddy bears, and had also left several ball-shaped holes in the back of the tent from the force of his throws.

I smiled at him. "I should have known that game was rigged," I said. "I mean, I'm pretty strong. For it not have fallen over on my first try should have made me suspicious."

Sebastian smirked down at me. "Are you so confident of your abilities?" He asked. I nodded firmly. It's important to always know your capabilities beforehand. Modesty can sometimes be just as bad as overconfidence. "Still," his smirk widened. "I was quite pleased with the way you spoke to him before you left." I sweatdropped and smiled nervously as I remembered.

_I stared at the man with a sweet smile, holding my newly won toy to my chest. "You fucking piece of cheating trash," I smiled at him. "If I ever see you again I will cut off your fingers one by one and make you eat them, and then I will gut you like a fish and strangle your last, living breaths from your dying body with your intestines. Do you hear me?"_

For some reason, my anger sometimes came out as being scarily sweet instead of actually looking angry. It works for me because, as I am short and female, men didn't seem to be so intimidated when I actually shout. "Can we move on from that? Anyway, thanks for the toys," I thanked him. "I'm really grateful."

Sebastian smiled and leaned down so that his face was right in front of mine. "How grateful are you?" He asked me, letting his voice drop seductively. I _eep_-ed and held up one of my teddies as a shield to cover my face.

"Not _that _grateful!" I snapped at him from behind the soft fur of the stuffed animal.

I heard him chuckle, and then a hand landed on the top of my head. I lifted my gaze to Sebastian's curiously. Before I could say anything, or even ask why he was patting my heat like I was one of his cats, the entrance of the tent swung aside to reveal Ciel, Aberlain and, surprisingly, Lau. I suddenly remembered the dress I had received that morning and immediately snarled at him.

He smiled back at me obliviously. "Ah, did you get my present yet, little maid?" _If I was not laden down by stuffed toys, I would strangle you for that._

Ciel stared at the stuffed toys in my arms with blank confusion. "Do I want to know?"

"Sebastian won these for me!" I told him happily. "But I'll let you have one if you want! Look, you can have this one. It's blue!" He eyed the blue teddy bear like he wasn't sure what to do with it. I sighed and hugged my own teddy bear to my chest. "You know, you're supposed to cuddle it," I pointed out. "Not stare at it like it's an undetonated bomb."

The earl glared at me. "We have business elsewhere," he said. We stashed the teddy bears in the carriage we had come in for safe keeping, and because no one would take Ciel seriously if he walked around with a super cute teddy bear.

Finally, we stopped in front of a plain beige and patchwork tent. There was a coffin on one side of the entrance, and a headstone on the other. Across the top ran the sign _Undertaker_. I blinked. "Why is there a mortuary in the middle of the fair?" I asked no one in particular.

Aberlain glanced at me, and then back at Ciel. "Apparently, quite a lot of people have died of frostbite so he decided to set up shop."

"In the middle of the fair?" I arched an eyebrow. _What a depressing reminder. Whoever this Undertaker character is,_ I glanced at Ciel's resigned face. _Ciel and Sebastian aren't exactly all that fond of him. _

I placed one hand on my hip as the inspector walked forward. "Since I especially permitted you to tag along, please wait here outside." I exhaled an amused breath through my nose when he fell headlong into the tent, apparently having forgotten that it wasn't entirely solid.

"How reckless," Ciel said. I hummed my agreement.

"That is the privilege of youth," Lau smiled. A moment passed. "So, where is this?"

A vein popped in Ciel's head. "The Undertaker's Shop!" He snapped. "We met him during the Jack the Ripper case!" I remembered that time: a chain of brutal murders involving prostitutes. It was the one time that I was afraid to run around late outside by myself. "He'll in tears in a moment," Ciel said. "Sebastian, get ready to-!"

At that moment, a sound like a thousand hyenas laughing erupted from the tent. The coffin fell, and the sign collapsed from the sheer force of the sound. "What was that?" I stared at the tent with wide eyes. Ciel pushed open the door of the tent to reveal a semi-dark room. There was another man in the room. He was laughing on the ground, a wide smile on his face. He had long grey hair, and wore a dark robe and top hat. There was a scar on his face, and I couldn't see his eyes at all.

All in all, he looked rather creepy, yet I didn't feel like I needed to be so vigilant, just slightly wary. He seemed just a bit nuts.

The Undertaker pointed at Aberlain between giggles. I noticed that his nails were incredibly long, and painted black. "You definitely picked the wrong profession, inspector~!" His voice was curiously lilting, like he was about to burst out laughing any second. "As a comedian, you would have been world-renowned!" He giggled harder.

Ciel stared at Aberlain. "Just what did you do?"

"I-I don't know!" The poor man looked so confused. "I just started talking the way I normally do!" _Oh, well, then that kind of makes sense._ I giggled quietly to myself, which drew the Undertaker's attention to me.

"Ah," he stared at me with that same, wide smile. Why didn't I get the same feelings of caution around him as I did when I was around Lau? "And who might you be, miss?" Even though I couldn't see his eyes, I could tell that he was staring at me, taking me in from top to bottom.

I waved. "I'm Thalia," I told him. "Wow, I've never met a mortician before. How many dead bodies do you normally get down here? Do you stitch them up like patchwork dolls?"

"Mmm," his smile widened. "You have quite a curious maid here, earl. I quite like her~." I grinned happily, and then sweatdropped at Sebastian's evil aura radiating behind me. _Calm the hell down, Sebastian._

Ciel slammed his hands down on the table. "We don't have time for pleasantries!" he snapped. "Tell us about the ring. The one that the body you disposed off this morning was supposed to have!" The Undertaker was still giggling quietly to himself as Ciel spoke.

"There's a possibility that it was buried around the area that it was found in," Aberlain added. "I implore you, on the behalf of all the good citizens of London such as yourself, please assist us with the investigation."

The Undertaker, who looked like he had almost stopped laughing, suddenly gave a short bark of laughter at that statement. "I have been greatly impressed by you, inspector," he turned to face us. "I'll tell you. The ring is..."


	10. On Thin Ice

**Thalia: *is cuddling Ciel* Aw, you're so cute Ciel!**

**Ciel: WTF? Get off me woman!**

**Thalia: I don't wanna~ *tries to kiss cheek closest to her***

**Ciel: Sebastian!**

**Sebastian: *appears* what is it, young master? *spots Thalia and smirks***

**Thalia: Goddammit! *Runs away***

**Me: Uh…I don't own Black Butler! SEBASTIAN, PUT MY OC DOWN!**

**On Thin Ice**

Three minutes later, we were standing right next to the ice statue of the queen that we had passed by earlier. The Undertaker pointed at one of her folded fingers.

"See, it's right there~."

On her finger glinted a beautiful blue stone that very much resembled the stone in Ciel's ring, except this one looked thinner. It was set in a gold band, unlike Ciel's silver one. Normally, sparkly things attracted me, but the ring seemed to be giving off an aura that told me to stay away. The same way a child wants to play with flames, I wanted to touch it, but something told me not to.

I folded my arms under my coat. "Huh," I said. "To think that it was right there in plain sight. Scotland Yard really needs detectives with better eyesight." Ciel snickered quietly at my statement.

"I suppose one of the ice sculptors here came across it while building," Lau suggested. "And decided to make use of it in the sculpture. How creative!"

Aberlain ordered two of the policemen two move the statue, but before they could lift it off its pedestal, a voice cut through the air. "What do you think you're doing, you ignorant whelp?" A man with a suitably Santa Clause-like appearance was glaring at us furiously. Behind him were three other people that were also glaring at us, and one man a little to the side.

He was handsome, with spiky blonde hair. He was also holding a rose, which he appeared to be sniffing. "This holy maiden will be presented to the winner," he kissed the rose, and wagged a finger at us. "You mustn't touch her."

Beside me, Ciel froze up and developed goosebumps. "Viscount Druitt!" My eyes narrowed with barely repressed fury.

How did I know the Viscount? Well, he was a seller of black market goods, namely female slaves. The girls were either sold whole, or in pieces. I was about to be one of them once before I escaped. I wondered if he recognised me. My hair was hidden by my cloak hood, so I highly doubted it.

I scowled at Aberlain. "Why is he here?" I snapped. "I thought he was in jail for human trafficking!"

Aberlain didn't look any more pleased than I did. "He was," he replied. "He got out early for good behaviour." I snorted. _More like he bribed the law to let him go. Money does talk after all. Money and social standing._

I glanced at Ciel. "So, what's your problem with the Viscount?" I quizzed.

He shuddered. "You don't want to know." I glanced back at Sebastian, who was hiding his laughter behind his glove. "Anyway," Ciel stared at the men and women. "Are those the contest's judges? Why is he one of them?"

"Money and good looks will get you a long way," I shrugged.

Aberlain tried to reason with the judges. "I'm sorry, but Scotland Yard will have to take this statue into its possession now. It's very important evidence!"

"No!" Santa Clause snapped. "Even if you _are_ from Scotland Yard, we will not allow anyone to have their way with the Frost Fair! It is the peak of excitement for the townsfolk." Because, apparently, ice fairs and games were more important than legal police work. London really needed to work in its priorities.

I resisted the urge to shudder when Druitt spoke again. "Beauty is something to be adored," he said. "Are you trying to force shame upon this beautiful maiden?"

"Like you're one to talk," Ciel and I deadpanned at the same time, and then we stared at each other in surprise.

"If you want her," Druitt smiled. "Just bring out enough beauty to satisfy her, and she'll be yours."

Santa Clause gave a pleased nod. "Well said, Viscount Druitt," he said. "As expected of one who loves fine art, beauty and cuisine." _And selling people in the black market._ He suddenly pointed at us. "It is as he says: if you want the statue, then you must win the contest!"

"I see," Ciel smiled. "I can agree with that. The ring will belong to the one who wins the contest. It's simple and clean," he smirked at Aberlain. "I will obtain that ring."

"You can't!" The inspector gaped. "That's a stolen object! And it is a piece of invaluable evidence in a line of kidnappings of young girls!" He then clapped his hand over his mouth, eyes wide at what he had just revealed.

I arched an eyebrow with a smile. "Oh? No wonder Scotland Yard wants it so badly."

He glared at me. "Even so," he said. "Anyone who owns the ring suffers a brutal fate. It is a cursed stone, and yet you still want it?"

Ciel looked up at him with a shadowed smile. "Cursed, huh?" He lifted the hand that held his ring to his chin. "Then it really does fit me."

The Undertaker spoke up at that moment. "That reminds me," he lilted. "Your ring also has a beautiful blue stone, doesn't it earl?" Ciel nodded. "Then you should be careful, earl," his voice dropped. "Diamonds are hard, but for all their hardness, they are fragile. If you overexert yourself too much, you may shatter."

_But diamonds can take so much pressure before they crack,_ I thought. _They are beautiful, and hard, and valuable even after they are broken into shards. There is beauty in every piece, although they may never become whole again. And, even if you stick them all back together again, you will still see the thin, spider-like fissures. It will never be the same._

I realised that I was stroking my ring under my coat. Because of its value, and my current station, I had taken to wearing it on a chain around my neck. I usually had it tucked under my collar and out of sight of thieves and probing eyes. I lowered my hands back to my sides and focused back on the conversation.

"This body and ring are both things that have shattered and been revived," Ciel said. "Like I would fear them shattering after everything I have been through," he turned to Sebastian. "Win the contest, Sebastian."

The butler smiled and bowed. "Yes, my lord." _Yeah, because of course you can do this. Why not? _Sometimes, his overwhelming ability to do pretty much everything really grated on my nerves.

I jerked when I suddenly realised that he was staring at me. "Uh, I think I'll just stay with Ciel," I stepped behind the young earl, almost like I could hide behind him. "Yeah, I think that would be best..."

Ciel stared at Sebastian, and then back at me, and then he smirked. "Oh, that isn't necessary, Thalia," he said to me. "Sebastian may need your assistance." I stared at the young earl blankly. _Sebastian may need my assistance? What are you, nuts?_ "Why don't you go with him?"

_NO! DON'T DO THIS TO ME CIEL! I THOUGHT WE HAD A BOND! _"Excellent idea, young master." I yelped as Sebastian picked me up and threw me over one shoulder and proceeded to walk away while I whined quietly. I could see the confused look on Aberlain's face, and the amused smiles of the other three.

I groaned quietly. "Can you put me down?" I asked him when Ciel was out of sight. "I promise not to run away. Honest." _LIES! I'M GOING TO SPRINT FOR MY LIFE THE SECOND MY FEET TOUCH THE SNOW!_

Either Sebastian knew me too well, or he could read minds, but he just chuckled and continued walking with me to the place where the contestants were meant to sign up. There he put me down. _Now's my chance! _Then he grabbed my wrist and smiled beatifically at the man in front. "We're here to sign up for the Ice Sculpture contest," he said.

A white breath of air puffed out of my mouth when I sighed. "You know," I glanced pointedly at my wrist, which was still shackled in his grip. "You do not have to grip me so tightly. Even if I ran, there would be no point. You'd just catch me in the next ten seconds."

"True," he pulled me onstage with the other contestants and let go of me. I rubbed my wrist and folded my arms across my chest. My gaze slid to the side and I eyed the men beside us. They looked shady and impatient for some reason. I faced out again as the announcer came onstage and stood in front of us.

"And now," the bearded announcer waved a hand at us with a large smile. "We will commence the traditional Frost Fair Ice Sculpture contest! The deadline is 3 p.m. Well then, begin!"

I followed Sebastian to the place where the other contestants were starting on their own sculptures. Lau and Ran Mao had also joined us, and the younger girl had started on the sculpture, and was drawing some stares from everyone around. _How is she not cold?_

"So…" I wandered up to Sebastian with my hands behind my back. "What are we building?"

He glanced down at me. "What am _I_ making," he corrected me. "You'll just get in the way, so just sit back and watch."

I scowled. "Then what the hell was the point of carrying me away?" I hissed up at him. "I wanted to stay with Ciel! You don't even need my help!" I wanted to kick him, or punch him, but I knew that wouldn't help. I sighed resignedly. "You know what? Fine. I'm gonna go sit there," I rolled a bunch of snow into a suitably large snowball-chair and plonked myself on top of it with my legs crossed. "There," I waved a hand at him. "Build the most spectacular ice sculpture ever."

Sebastian walked over to me and leaned down. My eyes widened as he took my hand in his, and brought it to his lips. "Yes, my lady." _It's like he amped up the flirting since the whole photograph thing!_

_Which reminds me,_ I watched Sebastian as he began darting around a patch of snow. The sculpture was beginning to rise out of the ground, smooth and gleaming. _What was on the back of my neck anyway?_ _He reacted pretty strangely back then. _I remembered the way he had started, and then tensed behind me.

_Maybe it's a particularly bad scar? _I didn't remember ever getting any scars on my neck. Maybe a few accidental ones when I scratched my neck too hard with my nails, but those were thin and disappeared quickly.

As I was contemplating this, a shadow fell over me. I looked up, fully expecting to see Sebastian standing above me. Instead, I came face to face with an unfamiliar looking man. He radiated charm, and looked as smooth as an oil slick. I arched an eyebrow at him and put on my most deadpan expression. "Can I help you?"

He must have thought I was just playing hard to get, because he became even more charming. "I couldn't help but notice that you seem to be having some problems with your sculpture." I glanced down at my snowball chair, and then back at him. "Such outdoor activities are beneath a lady of your beauty. Why don't you come with me and let me treat you to a drink?"

_What is it, Flirt With Thalia day? _I folded my arms across my chest. "No thanks," I snapped. "I'm fine here. Besides, I'm with that guy," I pointed behind him at Sebastian, who was gazing at us darkly from the more-than-half-formed sculpture. It looked like some sort of ship.

The guy frowned, and then smiled at me again. "He shouldn't have left you alone then," he cooed. "Come on," he suddenly grabbed my right hand tightly. I promptly coiled my left hand into a sharp fist and jabbed him under the arm. "Argh!" He released me, clutching his useless arm to his front.

I arranged myself back on the snowball, which was beginning to melt and conform to the shape of my body. "I'm not interested," I told him coolly. "So could you please leave me alone?" And leave he did, muttering something that was probably insulting under his breath. I crossed my legs and turned back to Sebastian, who looked pleased.

_I did not do this to make you happy! I did it because guys like that irritate me!_ I told him as much when he finished the ice sculpture (which was actually a giant icy remake of Noah's Ark) and came to stand beside me.

He just smiled. "I'm still pleased anyway," he replied. He pulled out his pocket watch and pressed the button to release the catch. "Hmm, we have five more minutes. We should get back now." I followed him back to the decorated, raised platform, along with the other contestants.

The bearded announcer stepped forward. "Now we shall commence the judging of the Ice Sculpting contest!" My arms folded over my chest and I rested my weight on one leg. "First up, the Joyful Scotland Yard team with their _Guardian of London_!"

The team was just Aberlain and two other policemen. They had made a sculpture of some surly looking guy with a lot of facial hair, which I assumed was their boss, and were saluting to it. It was actually quite nice, and realistic, but not what you'd call beautiful. As it was, they got very low marks for it.

"Next is the A Chinese Dress is Best in Miniskirt Form team," the announcer smiled nervously. "But uh, due to the sensitive matter of their sculpture..."

Lau and Ran Mao had sculpted a nude version of Ran Mao standing in a provocative pose. I assume she was nude, as two men were holding up pieces of cloth to cover up the uh...more private bits. I sweatdropped.

"Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are not able to judge it here." _There are children here! Why would you sculpt that?_ "Well, judges, please give your marks!" All the judges gave no marks, except for Druitt (no surprise there) who gave the risqué sculpture a ten.

Lau pouted. "Why couldn't they judge it?"

"There's no way they could show something like that in public!" Ciel yelled back at him.

He still looked a bit put out. "I think hiding it like that is more perverted."

_You would, _I rolled my eyes. Ciel exhaled beside me, and then glanced up at Sebastian. "You can win, right?"

"Of course," he replied. "Once you give an order, I exist but to fulfil it." I smirked a little at that, and then faced the stage again as our team was called out.

"Next up is the Queen's Woof Woof team," the presenter announced. I clapped a hand over my mouth to hide my giggles. Ciel turned and glared at Sebastian and me, as the former just smiled innocently.

"Was that absolutely necessary?" He asked, voice clipped.

"He did it!" I pointed at Sebastian quickly, still trying not to laugh. "That was his idea!"

"Their piece is entitled, _Noah's Ark_!" The man gestured to the side. There were gasps of awe as the large curtain was pulled aside to reveal a beautiful ice rendition of Noah's Ark riding on a cresting wave. The ice was smooth, gleaming, and perfect. I couldn't help being impressed, even though this was Sebastian. I patted him on the arm without looking at him. "This is amazing! Judges, please give your results!"

"Please wait one moment." I blinked and stared at Sebastian curiously. "You have not seen anything yet." _What is he going to do?_ Sebastian raised a hand and snapped his fingers. for a second, nothing happened, and then there was a sound of ice cracking as the roof of the ark cracked into two and fell apart neatly to reveal…

My eyes widened in shock. He had created a rising tower of animals, all perfectly formed and beautiful! I suddenly wanted to punch him in the face because _goddammit can you not do things so perfectly!?_

"I see!" Santa Clause (yeah, I'm still calling him that) yelled. "He made the joints in the roof weak so that, over time, they would melt and break away!"

Druitt was also getting excited, which just made me want to punch him in the face. "Oh!" He gasped. "Oh! God's rage! The only one to escape the blazing storm unscathed was Noah, leading his paired animals and waiting for the time of regeneration as they drifted upon the waves!"

_Calm yourself,_ I thought. "Young man, I am completely astounded!" Santa Clause said to Sebastian. "To be able to see such a high class ice sculptor…"

Sebastian faced him with an innocently amiable smile. "No, I'm just one hell of a butler." I glared at him. _Every time you say that, I get the urge to kick you._ As though he could sense my stare, he looked down at me, the smile turning to something more taunting.

"Well then, let the judging comme-!"

"Wait right there!" There were gasps as the crown turned in the direction of the prize statue. He was holding a gun in one hand and a cocky smirk on his face. "Sorry, but this ring belongs to us. We're going to have to take it back."

"What?" Aberlain's eyes widened. "But you're…!"

"That's right," the man grinned. "We're the bombing thief ring that's been the talk of the town recently," he pulled his jacket aside to reveal a belt of dynamite sticks. Behind him, two other men kicked down a barrel to reveal more dynamite. He held up a lighter and flicked it on. "I'll count down from ten. If you don't want to die, then get lost!" For a moment, no one moved. "Ten!"

The crowd suddenly went wild as everyone ran screaming from the obvious threat. Well, everyone except Ciel, Sebastian and me, but we were special. "Young master?" Sebastian asked.

"My orders haven't changed," Ciel replied to his unasked question. "Do it, Sebastian. Thalia will stay with me."

"Nine!""

Sebastian bowed. "Yes, my lord." I draped an arm around Ciel as Sebastian dashed off to do…whatever it was that he needed to do.

"Eight!"

Aberlain, who was guiding the panicked rush of people, suddenly spotted us. "Ciel, Thalia! What are you doing? Get out of here this minute!"

"Seven!"

Ciel barely spared him a glance. "If you want to run, then do so," he replied. "Don't pay any attention to us."

"Six!"

"Like I could do that!" Ciel turned to stare at Aberlain in surprise. "I became a police officer to protect the people!"

"Five!"

Ciel just smiled and shook his head. "What an idiot."

I sighed as he started running towards us. "That's a rather noble statement," I said to Ciel. "But there is bravery, and then there is naivety." _Because you cannot protect everyone, even if you try your best._ Aberlain was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a gunshot.

"Don't get one step closer," the thief snarled, and then he swung the gun around to where Ciel and I were. "I'm down to three," he smirked. "Are you kids really not gonna run?"

I shrugged. "We don't need to," Ciel told him coolly. The guy blinked, and then grunted as something knocked the gun right out of his hand with the majestic grace of a swan. Sebastian landed on the ice and swerved gracefully around the statue.

"What?" The other men gaped, and then quickly collected themselves and began shooting at Sebastian. Sebastian suddenly leaped into the air, still with the majestic grace of a swan, and performed a complicated looking jump.

"It's the legendary quadruple spin jump!" I heard Santa Clause gasp. _Alright, now he's just being a show-off._

"It's the gallant blackbird dancing upon a world of white and silver!" Druitt gushed. "Enchanted by that smirking face, ladies are overcome with delight and reach for those wings!"

Ciel and I shuddered, most likely for both similar and differs reasons, and then I pushed him behind me when a bullet ricocheted a foot from us. I flipped myself over to the shooting men. It wasn't that Sebastian couldn't dodge them, but their bullets were flying too haphazardly in their frustrated attempts to hit him. if Ciel got shot, I was going to bust some heads.

My knee connected with one in the stomach, and then I kicked the other one squarely in the chest. They fell, gasping and groaning in pain. "Ah!" I froze as Druitt began to gush again. "Her beautiful movements upon the ice," he said. "The graceful way she moves, it's like a dance with the falling snow!"

_Why do I feel so violated?_ I shuddered again, and then stepped on the hand of one of the guys reaching for his gun. Sebastian landed again and swerved towards me, neatly picking me up and carrying me bridal style in his arms. I sweatdropped as all the judges lifted their paddles to reveal ten marks: a full score. "I hate you," I muttered to him. I wasn't sure why I said it, but it made me feel better anyway.

He just smirked. "Of course you do, dear Thalia."

"Damn you, brat," the guy suddenly pulled out one of his dynamite and lit it. "He blown to smithereens then!" He chucked the stick at Ciel.

"Sebastian!" I didn't need to have said anything, as said butler skated over to Ciel and neatly plucked him out of the way. I looked up as Ciel as he was being held aloft by Sebastian in a grand show of balance. The dynamite exploded behind us, sending pieces of ice flying. Soon the ice began to crack and fracture.

"Sebastian!" Ciel yelled, and then he yelped as he was suddenly spun and thrown into the air.

"WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK?" I yelled at Sebatsian as Ciel soared through the air. "YOU CAN'T JUST _THROW _PEOPLE_!_" And then I found myself airborne as well. _Well fuck you too._ I twisted myself in mid-air and landed, feet-first, on the ice ark. Ciel sat up dazedly, and I checked him over for bruises.

He waved me away. "I'm fine, Thalia," he stood and straightened himself. At that moment, Sebastian landed beside us. The three of us turned to face the prow of the boat as the icy mist cleared and awed gasps rose up from the crowd of people on land. Druitt began to rant something, but I deliberately tuned him out.

Ciel folded his arms across his chest. "That was a rather rough method, wasn't it?" He asked Sebastian.

I snorted. "Rough? He freaking threw us across the Thames!"

Sebastian looked like he wanted to laugh. "I'm sorry," he inclined his head politely. "I just thought that the best course of action would be to rid myself of the excess baggage weighing me down."

Ciel scoffed. I stared at Sebastian blankly for a few seconds. "Did you just call me fat?" I asked. His eyes widened slightly.

"And so the Shard of Hope will rest at the bottom of the Thames river," Ciel stared down into the dark depths of the icy water.

"It will curse London," Sebastian noted.

I shrugged and folded my arms into my coat. "London is already pretty cursed as it is."

Ciel glanced at me briefly, and then looked away. "If it ended like that," he said. "It would show that was all there was to this town and country," he raised his hand and stared at the matching blue stone on his finger. "After all, we Phantomhives have always…"

I sighed, and looked up at the white-grey sky. _This day turned out to be more tasking than I bargained for._


	11. Disappearing Ladies

**I'M BACK! I still don't have internet, but my mom's office does so yeah. **

**I just want to clarify something, since some people may not be so clear on Thalia's appearance. She has red eyes, and white (not blonde) hair, with red highlights at the bottom. **

**Disappearing Ladies**

There hadn't been anymore cases since the incident with the ring. I had decided not to burn the dress Lau had gotten me, and had instead stashed it at the back of my cupboard. It was too pretty to burn, and seemed to offer far more movement than my maid dress (although I hadn't tried it on yet. I was too embarrassed to).

I also spent my time avoiding being alone with Sebastian. I had decided that if we had to be in the same room, someone else had to be there with us. Ciel was my first choice, but Bard, Mey-Rin and Finny would work too. Morgan would also work as I could throw her at Sebastian and watch him lose all interest in me as he focused his attention on my cat.

All in all, the weeks passed by calmly. We were getting close to Christmas now, I noted. That evening, all us servants (excluding Bard, who was being chewed out by Sebastian for blowing up one of the pots) were clearing the half-melted slush and dead leaves from the front of the country house. Finny and I were sweeping, while Mey-Rin was picking up the leaves and putting them in the wheelbarrow.

Finny sighed. I glanced at him curiously. "What's wrong, Finny?" I paused in my work. "You sound mildly depressed."

"Tomorrow is Ciel's birthday," he told me with a sad frown. "Why can't we celebrate it?"

"Wait, what?" My eyes snapped wide open in shock. "Tomorrow is Ciel's birthday!?" _I didn't even get him anything! Goddammit, I should have asked about this earlier!_ "Why _can't_ we celebrate it?" I frowned. "Ciel deserves to have a nice birthday!" _Especially since his whole life seems to be so vastly different from any other child's._

Mey-Rin pouted. "The young master doesn't like it," she replied. "Even though you're right…"

I frowned, and then blinked as the sound of horses and bells came from down the lane. There was a carriage making its way to the house, and out of one window popped the head of a cute looking girl with blonde hair in pigtails. She waved at us cheerfully. "Hello everyone!" She beamed. "I'm here!"

Her words did not seem to merit the reaction she got from the two other servants. "LADY ELIZABETH!" They screamed. I blinked at them as they both suddenly ran away, presumably to enter through the back door of the house.

The carriage drew to a stop in front of the house, and the door opened. The girl stepped down prettily, followed by her maid/companion, and then stared at me with wide eyes. "I've never seen you before," she gazed up at me. "Are you a new servant here?"

"Yes," I nodded. "My name is Thalia Hawthorne. I'm sorry, but I don't know yours."

She arranged herself importantly. "I am Lady Elizabeth Midford," she replied. _Well damn, that's a mouthful_. "You're really cute," she beamed up at me, and I felt myself smile a bit at the compliment. Elizabeth suddenly seemed to remember something, and she dashed ahead of us to the doors of the mansion, which she threw open like a tornado. "_Ciel!_"

When I entered the house, I nearly sniggered at the sight of the tiny little girl swinging Ciel around with so much excitement and joy that it was kind of funny. It was like he was a highly loved teddy bear. Sebastian was standing a little way away, smiling like this sort of thing happened often, but was still amusing to watch anyway.

She finally stopped spinning him around and placed something in his hand. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a small red box tied up with lighter red ribbon. "Look, I got you a present!" She beamed cheerfully. "Open it, quick, quick!"

Ciel blinked, recovering from his dizziness, and stared at the box in his palm bemusedly. Finally, he reached out a hand to undo the ribbon. Before he could though, Lizzy grabbed his hand and stared at it. Or, more specifically, she stared at his ring. "What? I thought I broke that!"

"Ah," Ciel glanced at the ring. "Sebastian fixed it."

"No way!" She looked confused and upset. "It was all cracked then! I don't even see any flaws!"

Sebastian smirked and placed a hand on his chest. "Such things are only natural for one-"

"For one who serves under the Phantomhives," Ciel finished for him impatiently. _So even Ciel gets pissed off with his smugness sometimes. _

The girl, Lizzy, Elizabeth, took a step back. "I see," she murmured. "Sebastian…" she looked down, apparently depressed.

"Lady Elizabeth," Sebastian spoke up after a moment. "What is in that box?" I glanced at the box in Ciel's hand curiously. He had pulled off the ribbon now, and was about to lift the lid. Elizabeth suddenly jerked to attention and waved her arms frantically to snatch the box back.

"This is uh…" she clutched it behind her back. "It's a secret!"

Ciel frowned. "Didn't you say you were going to give it to me?" He asked her.

She giggled nervously, and then winked coquettishly. "That was a _f-e-i-n-t~_," she sang.

"A feint?" Ciel repeated dubiously.

"A lady who tries to catch a man with gifts is no lady," she placed a hand over her mouth. "It would be most unseemly! Now, Paula, ring your bells!" The woman behind her promptly pulled out two bells from behind her back and rang them happily. "Well then," Elizabeth waved at us merrily. "Good day to you all!"

With that, they both ran out of the house, slamming the door shut behind them. The three of us stared after them with blank, bemused faces. "What just happened?" I wondered. "Noblewomen are weird."

"So what did she come over for anyway?" Ciel asked.

"Tomorrow is your birthday," Sebastian reminded him. "Maybe it had something to do with that." Ciel stiffened suddenly. "How about it, young master?" Sebastian continued. "Shall we hold a party? It looks as though there are others who wish to celebrate as well." He was, of course, referring to the other servants who were peeking out from behind one of the pillars.

I turned to Ciel when his head lowered a bit. "My birthday…"

His voice sounded so hollow. His eyes suddenly grew distant and sad. "Ciel…?" I reached out a hand to his shoulder, only for him to turn and walk away. "Ciel?"

"Ridiculous," he snapped. "Bring me tea in my room."

"Straight away." I folded my arms across my chest and frowned. _He obviously doesn't consider his birthday as something to be celebrated,_ I thought. _But why? Why wouldn't he want to be with the people who love him on that day? _

_Maybe something happened that makes him view it as a tragedy?_ I frowned at the thought. _But what could have happened?_

"My, my, you seem deep in thought." I jumped and spun around to face Sebastian, who had moved closer to me. "What are you thinking off?"

_I'm thinking off how I obviously doomed myself by allowing the two of us to be in the same place by ourselves. _"Uh, nothing…?" I took a nervous step backwards, only for him to take another step closer. And closer. And even closer. My back hit the banister of the stairs. "Uh…" _Quick brain, think of something! _I pointed somewhere behind him. "Look, it's Morgan!"

The second he turned his head, I was sprinting up the stairs like a cheetah. Luckily, he decided not to come after me. I stopped running once I was sure that he wasn't following me.

"Damn you, Sebastian," I leaned against the wall and tried to catch my breath. "Well, you're kind of already damned" _Stop talking to yourself you weirdo. _I sighed loudly, and straightened after I had managed to stop panting so hard.

I suddenly caught sight of myself in a hallway mirror that happened to be there. My collar was a bit dishevelled, and part of my braid was loosening. _I look a mess, _I frowned and straightened the neckline of my dress. Then I reached up and pulled my braid to the side and over my shoulder so I could undo it and redo it.

My fingers paused. There was something peeking out from behind my neck, something small and black curling just slightly over the skin of my throat. It looked like a tattoo, but I had never gotten any tattoos before. _Maybe it's a bruise?_ I twisted my head as far as it could go, but I couldn't get a proper look at it.

_Well, whatever it is,_ I decided, quickly braiding my hair. _It can't be all that bad. It doesn't hurt when I touch it, and my neck feels pretty much the same as always. _Still, I couldn't help feeling a bit bothered about it. Maybe that was what Sebastian had seen. In that case, the most logical thing to do would be to ask him about it.

The most logical, yes, but I really didn't want to be molested at the moment. _Still, if you want to know, then ask. Just try not to freeze up when he touches you. _

I scowled at my reflection. _Why do I act so freaked out around him? _I wondered. _Even when I was attracted to any guy before, I still behaved almost the same. _Granted I had only ever been attracted to one guy before, and he had tried to blackmail me into robbing a house with his gang.

He was in jail now.

_Maybe Sebastian is exerting some sort of influence on me,_ I finished braiding my hair and held it for a minute while I thought. _That's probably it. He's a demon, so it makes sense that he would be made up of temptation._

_I just have to make sure that I don't succumb. _I tied the end of my braid with a bit of string and gave it a firm tug. I turned to make my way to Ciel's study. Somewhere downstairs, a phone was ringing. I heard Sebastian pick it.

Something brushed against my legs, and I looked down at Morgan. She mewed, staring up at me with large gold eyes. "Hey Morgan," I bent over to pet her gently. I hadn't seen her since the afternoon when I had tossed her at Sebastian in a fit of panic. Cats hold grudges, don't they?

Well, she seemed to have forgiven me anyway. The half-grown cat immediately latched onto the fabric of my sleeve and scrambled up my arm like I was a tree or a climbing frame. She made her way over my shoulder and curled her lithe body around my neck like a scarf. I straightened and scratched her behind the ears gently. A low rumbling sound filled my ears as she purred loudly.

"I guess this means I can't go and see Ciel." The kid was allergic to cats, which was just a pity really. Cats, for all their rude, haughty demeanours, are really good-looking creatures, and most of them are really cute. "At least, not while you're using me as a post."

She yawned quietly, and buried her face in my neck. I sighed and made my way downstairs instead. It had gotten dark in the time I had been upstairs as the days ended quicker during the winter. I nearly bumped into Sebastian coming up the stairs with a letter on a tray. "Oh, sorry," I glanced at the envelope on the tray in his hands. It had the queen's seal set in red wax. "Is that for Ciel?"

Stupid question, but I asked it anyway because I wanted to find out more. "Yes," Sebastian answered. Morgan mewed from around my neck and I reached up to scratch her again. She licked my fingers and purred. I could see his eyes focused on her. "I also have some sad news regarding Lady Elizabeth."

My brows wrinkled slightly as I followed him up the stairs and towards Ciel's study. "Isn't that the girl that visited just a few hours ago?" I asked as we neared the door. "What happened to her?"

We stopped in front of the door. Sebastian stared at Morgan pointedly, silently telling me to put her down. I sighed and carefully unwound her from around my neck. She hissed quietly and dug her claws into my sleeves. The more I pulled, the more insistent her noises became.

She was going to rip my clothes if this kept up. "Uh…Sebastian?" I winced when her back legs began scrabbling to get closer to me. "A little help, please?"

His smile was full of innocence. "I would, dear Thalia," he shrugged with false helplessness. "Alas, my hands are currently full."

I scowled at him. "You can always put the tray down!" I snapped. He smiled even more at that, but made no move to help me.

After a few more seconds of hisses and yowls, not all of them from the cat, I finally managed to unpick her claws from my dress, which had suffered no great damage by her trimmed, but still very sharp, claws.

She gave one last annoyed meow as I held her away from me. Morgan glared up at me, her golden eyes full of betrayal. "I'm sorry Morgan," I scratched under her chin as an apology, and then put her down. She turned around and rubbed her body along my legs, before taking off down the corridor. "Cats are cute creatures, aren't they?" I said aloud.

"Indeed," Sebastian agreed. "It's difficult to predict what they will do next. They may let you pet them one minute, and bite you the next. In a way, they remind me of you."

I spun around to face him. "_What?_" But he had already knocked on the door of the study and pushed it open, so I was forced to forget the matter for the moment.

Ciel was sitting at his desk with a book. He looked up when we entered. "What is it, Sebastian?" He asked the butler.

"I have some unfortunate news about Lady Elizabeth," Sebastian replied. "It seems she has disappeared."

The book in his hands dropped. Ciel's eyes widened. "What?" He stared at Sebastian. "Elizabeth has disappeared?"

"Yes," Sebastian nodded. "I just heard from her maid who claims she lost sight of Lady Elizabeth around Islington." That must have been the phone call I had heard before.

The chair scraped quietly against the floor when Ciel got up. "We'll move out immediately," he said firmly. "For Heaven's sake, what is she thinking?" He muttered the second part with barely veiled annoyance.

I wondered who Lady Elizabeth was to Ciel, that she could rush into the mansion and he wouldn't put up too much of a fight, and he was willing to drop everything to help her. _Maybe she's family?_ "Before we leave…" Sebastian held out the letter. "This just arrived for you."

Ciel slit the letter open and pulled out a folded bit of paper, along with a bunch of photographs of little girls that all looked to be around Elizabeth's age. He scanned through the letter quickly. "Scotland Yard is still continuing their search in a case concerning the kidnapping of young girls," he told us.

I frowned. "Didn't Aberlain mention something about that?" I folded my arms across my chest. "He said it was linked to the Shard of Hope."

Ciel nodded without looking at me. "The culprit apparently sends out the ring to those meant to become targets," Ciel explained, eyes still on the letter. "Apparently, the bodies of the girls have not been found," he continued. "But it is most likely that they are dead."

The paper fluttered back to the table. "What shall we do?" Sebastian queried.

"We shall ease the queen's gloom," Ciel replied curtly. Something flashed in his eyes, a memory of rage and pain. "That is our highest priority, no matter what. Thalia…" I faced the young earl. "Fetch my cane and hat."

_Ease the queen's gloom, huh? _I walked out of the room and made my way to Ciel's bedroom.

_Why do we have to ease the queen's gloom, when she has done nothing to ease yours or mine?_ I pushed open the door and quickly located the desired items.

_She sits on her throne, a glorified figurehead of what everyone thinks London is. _I waited until Ciel had donned his hat, and then I handed him the gold-tipped cane.

_These people think that it is clean, and beautiful, and free, and pure. _The air was chilled outside. The half moon hung in the sky like a half-closed eye. Sebastian opened the carriage door, and waited for us to enter before he climbed in and shut it behind us.

_It is not._

oOo

The carriage ride was mostly silent. Normally, our outings were full of me yelling at Sebastian for being a pervert, Sebastian making more remarks designed to make me yell more, and Ciel yelling for both of us to shut up.

However, the atmosphere inside the carriage that night was rather tense. Not with unsaid words, but with unspoken thoughts and ideas. I was sitting beside the window seat, next to Ciel, and gazing out at the bare trees of the forest. Sebastian was sitting opposite us, straight and still.

He then turned to Ciel, as though responding to some silent call. "Young master?" The title was a question.

Ciel didn't look at him. "Open the carriage door," he ordered. Sebastian's eyes widened, as did mine. "Go and question the families of the victims and make a list of suspects. We need names and addresses. Sneak into the crime scenes and see what you can find." I could see the reflection of his face in my window. "You should be able to accomplish all of that within three hours, right?"

Sebastian was clearly suspicious. As was I. My eyes narrowed slightly and I twisted around in my seat to face him. "And what will you be doing, young master?"

Ciel glanced at me or, rather, my reflection in the glass. "You will come with me," he said. "I just have some minor business to take care of, and I would like some company." I raised an eyebrow. Sebastian and I glanced at each other, sharing looks of suspicion and slight confusion. "Hurry up and go," Ciel snapped.

The butler nodded. "Yes, my lord." A second later, Sebastian had disappeared, leaving only a faint chill where air had rushed in when he opened the door.

Silence reigned for long while, until I finally sighed and crossed one leg over the other. "So…" I drew out the vowel. "You want to fill me in on this _minor business_?"

"We're going to search for Lady Elizabeth," Ciel replied, gaze still fixed on the window. I blinked and cocked my head to the side. _So why did you ditch Sebastian? He would have come in useful! _I didn't ask this, however, as I doubted he would have given me a suitable reply. He seemed stiff and lost in thought.

The two of us sat in silence until the carriage drew to a complete stop. I recognised the street as Islington, where Lady Elizabeth had apparently gotten lost. I inhaled a cool breath of air, and smiled. It felt good to be on the streets at night. It felt refreshingly familiar, like an old, worn blanket. _But it is really cold._

Ciel stood beside me, eying the streets curiously. "She said she lost sight of Elizabeth around here," he murmured. "But seriously," A tick mark appeared on his forehead. "Why did we have to bring him along?"

I looked down at Pluto curiously. Oh yeah, I never mentioned it did I? Sebastian asked us to take Pluto along as he could be useful protection (or useful bait, but I wasn't going to do that). I was just glad for a reason to have the cute human-dog-thing around. "Aw, relax Ciel," I scratched Pluto behind the ears and he yipped happily. "He's a dog, right? Maybe he can track Lady Elizabeth's scent."

Ciel cocked his head to the side. "True," he pulled out a length of red ribbon from his pocket. "This ribbon from the present has her scent all over it." I placed a hand on one hip as Ciel knelt down and held it out to Pluto. He sniffed it, sneezed, and then began to scratch his ear with his foot.

"Wow, what flexibility," I noted.

Ciel's gritted his teeth angrily. "That little-! Why won't it listen to anyone other than Sebastian?"

"Maybe because Sebastian is a demon, and he's a demon dog?" I suggested, with just a faint hint of sarcasm. Ciel glared at me. I smiled and held out my hand for the ribbon. "Let me try. I have some success with him…"

Before I could though, Pluto suddenly bounded off, pulling Ciel behind him unceremoniously. For a moment, I thought he had found something, until I realised that he had spotted a pretty stray dog a few yards away.

I sweatdropped. "Is this a trait that all males share?" I wondered.

The leash stretched as Ciel strained to keep hold of Pluto. "Stop being in heat at a time like this!" I laughed and took the leash from Ciel. It was easier for me to keep hold of the dog, since Pluto listened to me a bit.

"_Oh!_" The sudden voice scared the stray away, and made Pluto stop scrambling to run after it. "Oh, men in heat make my heart thump!"

_What the ever-loving frick-frack? _Ciel and I looked up and spotted a man standing on the roof of the building in front of us. Well, I assumed it was a man. The voice sounded a bit more masculine than feminine, and the form seemed male enough. I couldn't see much, other than he was wearing a lot of red.

"I am the hunter of love!" The man continued. "This heart of mine burns up any prey I set my eyes on! It scatters deep crimson sparks!" He turned, and the moon outlined his features a bit, but he was still too far away for me to see much of him. "Hunk sighted!"

_This night just turned really weird._ I was surprised that Ciel knew who he was. "You!" He snarled.

The man smirked and struck a pose. "Even like this, I'm a butler to die for!" He then shrugged. "Well, right now, I'm not in any active employment." The guy jumped off the roof and landed in front of us. Now that he was closer, I could see out his features.

He was definitely male, but also kind of feminine too. He was pretty in an _I-could-bite-out-your-heart-and-chew -it-up-if-I-wanted-to _sort of way. And I mean that in the most literal manner. He had really sharp teeth like a shark, but neater, and gold eyes behind a pair of stylish red glasses. He was also wearing a red coat over a black and white butler's uniform.

All in all, I quite liked his general appearance.

"Because of the whole Madame Red incidence, I've been denoted and now I have nothing to do but boring, lowly jobs. That bastard, Will, told me I couldn't return to work until I retrieved some troublesome souls. That rotten sadist!"

At that, he paused like he was thinking. "Well, they do say food is at its best when it's about to go rotten. And those cold eyes send chills up my spine! Still," he eyed Pluto. "This one's wildness is hard to ignore…"

I blinked and cocked my head to the side. "Uh…that's a dog…" I pointed out, just in case he wasn't sure. The guy suddenly froze and stared at me with half narrowed eyes. "What?"

"You look vaguely familiar," he hummed. "Have we met before?"

I arched an eyebrow. "I don't think so," I replied carefully, a bit unnerved by his sudden scrutiny. "I think I'd remember if I met someone like you. You're hard to miss."

He leaned back, apparently pleased with my words. I noticed that Ciel looked furious, like he really hated the guy in front of us. My hackles immediately rose. Whoever this man was, he had obviously done something terrible to Ciel in the past. The young earl was clearly not the type to hold grudges for small things. He focused on the larger things.

"Who is this guy anyway?" I asked Ciel.

The angry look on his face intensified. "Grell Sutcliff," he replied coldly. "A reaper. He collects the souls of the dead."

The man smiled. "Oh come now," he cooed tauntingly. "Don't tell me you're about to take revenge for your beloved aunt? And it looks like Sebastian isn't around either. What can a brat like you do?"

"Shut up," I snapped. "Do _not_ call him that." Pluto picked up on my anger and began to growl beside me, body tensed and teeth bared.

The guy, Grell, looked surprised. "Ah, so your night tonight is him?" He huffed. "Why does this kid steal all the good men?" I sweatdropped. _What is he going on about?_ At that moment, Pluto suddenly pulled free of my grip and bounded towards the man. "Oh, I'm being assaulted~!" He shivered happily, and then held out his arms. "Please be gentle~!"

Pluto ran past him and disappeared around a corner. "We do not have time for this!" I groaned as we ran to catch up with Pluto before we lost sight of him. Pluto led us in twists and turns, through darkened alleyways until we finally turned a corner and spotted to where he was running.

It was a toy shop. The window was lined with puppets and nursery lamps, teddy bears and dolls. And right in the centre was a doll that looked _exactly _like lady Elizabeth. "Lizzy!" Ciel shouted.

There was a sound of something landing behind us, and the pages turning. "Grim Reaper Death Note," Grell read aloud. He must have followed us here, or he was heading here anyway. "Number 403: Mandalay Family Puppeteer, Drozell Keinz."

I blinked, confused. "Drozell?" Glass shattered, and I whirled around to see that the window was broken, and Ciel was already running towards the ominous toy shop.

I took a step to follow him, and then Grell spoke again. "You _do_ seem familiar," he frowned at me. "Are you _certain _that we haven't met before?"

This repeated question was wasting my time. I scowled up at him. "Yes, I'm sure we haven't met before! So excuse me…!" I turned my back on him, but his next words made me freeze in my tracks.

"Apart from that, there is something wrong with your soul." I turned my head slightly so that I could see him out of my periphery. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, not exactly _wrong_," he amended. "It's strange. I have never seen anything like it."

"My soul?" I wanted to ask him what he meant, but then I heard Pluto whine and I snapped back to attention. _Ciel. _I ran into the toy shop, and caught sight of Ciel's cloak slipping through a door behind the desk.

Beyond the door was a clearing, and then a forest, and then rising out from the forest was a castle. Although it was painted with blue and pink, there was something ominous about it. whatever was inside it was probably not friendly.

The wind ruffled my hair and I turned to look down at Ciel. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked him. "This looks dangerous, and I may not be able to protect you if whatever is in there is…not human."

Ciel grit his teeth. "I have no doubt that Lizzy is in there," he said. "I have to get her out."

I folded my arms across my chest. "I'd still feel more comfortable if Sebastian was with us," I stated. "Or something like him."

"My, isn't this a welcoming mansion!" Grell wandered up to us with a wide smile. Ciel and I stared at him, and then at each other.

His eyes widened at the question in mine. "No."

I placed my hands on my hips and frowned down at him. _You don't have to like it,_ I told the young earl with my gaze, _but right now he's the only other supernatural being here, excluding Pluto._ Ciel scowled and looked away. I grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at me. "Do it for Lady Elizabeth. You care for her, don't you?"

A conflicted look passed over his face, and then he finally sighed. "Fine," he grunted. "Grell, protect us." The man in question turned to us incredulously. "I'll listen to whatever your wish is," Ciel continued.

Grell huffed. "Don't insult me," he snapped. "Do you think I'm some cheap woman who performs for mone-!"

"I'll let you do whatever you wish to Sebastian for a whole day," Ciel cut him off with a sly smirk.

"_What!_" I stared at Ciel in shock. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Grell actually looked interested. He probably had a crush on Sebastian. "Whatever I want?" He tapped his cheek thoughtfully. "Does that mean…" The full weight of the deal suddenly hit him and his eyes began to sparkle with barely repressed excitement. "_I can kiss him?_"

"Whatever you like."

"W-with _tongue_?" _Ew, that was unnecessary, _I grimaced.

"That depends on how you play it," Ciel answered, and I glared down at him. The boy smirked up at me. While Grell celebrated the deal. "What is it, Thalia?" Ciel asked me mockingly. "You seem upset."

"You can't just sell Sebastian off to some redheaded weirdo," I replied. "He'll never go for it." There was an uncomfortable feeling in my chest, like I was being choked. I squashed it down.

"You shouldn't care," Ciel told me, turning to walk towards the house. "After all, you're the one constantly running away from him and claiming to hate him."

_That's true,_ I thought as I followed Ciel. _Then why do I feel so annoyed? This is stupid._ Pluto trotted at my heels, and I stroked his head absentmindedly. He growled at Grell whenever the man tried to come closer. _Good dog. You're getting a belly rub when we get home. _

I eyed the castle nervously. _Whenever that is…_


	12. London Dolls

**I finally have internet now! Now I can update all my stories really quickly, especially this one since I have pretty much already planned out the next ten or so chapters already.**

**Oh yeah, quick question: I really want to add the whole Book of Circus arc to this story (I think it comes after the Curry Contest arc) and I want to know if people actually want to read that. Please PM me or write it in your reviews. I have also planned for a lot of Sebastian and Thalia moments too**

**Thalia: What!?**

**Sebastian: *smirk***

**Me: On with the story!**

**London Dolls**

We finally reached the large double doors of the castle. "Well then!" Grell shoved the doors open with reward-fuelled excitement. "Let's get a move on!"

The landing was empty, save for a small stand in the centre of the room on which a girl was standing. I wasn't sure if it was a real girl, or if she was simply drugged. Her eyes looked so dead. Something glinted on her finger.

My eyes widened in stunned realization. "Ciel, isn't that the ring from the fair?"

Ciel followed my gaze and hissed in shock. "The Hope Diamond!"

"But I thought it sank into the Thames!" I stared at the girl, whose eyes were still lowered. "That means that this must be one of the missing girls that the Yard has been searching for!" I leaned closer to stare at her face. Something didn't seem quite right about her skin.

Suddenly, her eyes moved and fixed on me. I hissed. "Move!" I shoved Ciel out of the way. At the same moment, her hand shot out and grabbed my wrist in a grip that showed more strength than her frame gave her credit for. Her expression did not change. Only her eyes moved as her fingers tightened.

"Thalia!" Ciel yelled. I gritted my teeth and struggled to pull my hand out of her grip. Her hands felt unnaturally hard. I kicked her legs out from under her, forcing her to let go of me as she fell to the ground. _Ow._ The skin around my wrist was slightly bruised, and rubbed red. The girl got back on her feet and turned to us. I stood in front of Ciel, fists clenched.

"Hey!" Ciel and I looked up at Grell. He was standing on top of the chandelier with a pout. "Don't forget whose name you should be calling!" He smirked down at us. "Reapers have tools they use to hunt souls with! Yes," he suddenly whipped out two scissors. "Their death scythes!"

I blinked several times. "Uh, aren't those just safety scissors?" I pointed out. Behind me, Ciel facepalmed.

"I had no choice in the matter!" Grell whined. "Will confiscated my custom-made death scythe! Oh how I long for those familiar vibrations!" I sweatdropped. The girl was coming closer. "I'll cut her to threads!" He leaped off the chandelier.

"Wait!" Ciel yelled. "Don't kill her! That isn't a doll!"

"Ciel!" I grabbed his arm before he could run towards her. "Stop! You'll get hurt!" This guy wasn't Sebastian. He wouldn't obey Ciel's every command. The scissors sliced through her neck and she collapsed. "Besides," I released Ciel once she was down. "She isn't real."

Ciel's eyes widened. "What?" He stared at me, and then his eyes fixed on the gash in her neck. Sawdust was pouring out of her. "How did you know?"

I held out my bruised wrist. "Her hands felt too hard and rough to be human," I explained with a shrug. "She's a doll, or a puppet of some kind." I watched Ciel as he knelt down and pulled the ring off her finger. "Can I hold that?" He passed it to me, and I slipped it onto my thumb. I didn't like the way it looked. Gold had never been my favourite colour. Silver, like Ciel's ring, like my mother's ring, that was my favourite.

Still, the ring fit rather well for all intents and purposes. I twisted it around a bit thoughtfully.

"_Mould it out of wood and clay, wood and clay, wood and clay~…_"

Someone was singing to the tune of _London's Bridge is Falling Down_. The voice was coming from behind the door in front of us, which swung open to reveal a man holding a candle. His movements were a bit jerky, as though he was being manoeuvred like a puppet on strings. He was wearing a top hat, and his face held little emotion. There was a small mark on his right cheek, like a tattoo or such.

He stopped in front of us. "This doll was a failure," he said, and I wasn't sure if he was talking to us or to himself. His voice, like his movements, was also stilted. It was fluid enough, but each word came out a few seconds after the other, as though his brain needed a few seconds longer to search for the next word. "They need to be made much, much stronger," he raised a hand. "_Make it out of iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel._"

I took a step back, dragging Ciel behind me as more of those weird doll girls began to stream out from the darkened corridor behind the of them had dead eyes and moved with mechanical precision.

"_Make it out of iron and steel, my fair lady!_" The man withdrew back into the darkness, the haunting melody growing quiter but not disappearing altogether.

Grell scowled. "Those who interfere with the love between Sebastian and I will pay!" He ran at the dolls, scissors outstretched. However, like the man had said, these ones were much stronger. They were made of iron and steel, so the scissors bounced harmlessly off them. "No way!"

"Grell, this is an order!" Ciel snapped. "You and Pluto are to play with the dolls here forever!" I had forgotten about Pluto. The demon dog was in the corner, chewing one of the dolls. And I mean the small, harmless ones, not the large, metal ones that wanted to kill us.

"Pluto!" The dog stopped chewing and ran to my side, tongue lolling. "Look Pluto!" I pointed to the girls. "Life-sized chew toys!" He stared at the girls with wide eyes, and then bounded towards them with a howl. "Good dog!"

Ciel and I turned and ran past Grell and the dolls into the lightless corridor, which soon turned to a flight a stairs. The stairs led us into a room like a ballroom or something. The walls were painted in tones of gentle blue and green. We stopped in the middle of the room, staring at the doors and wondering which way to go next.

"Ciel Phantomhive." Our heads flew up. The man from before was sitting on the ledge of a high balcony overlooking us. "Thalia Hawthorne. You are both incredibly beautiful. I will have to make you into dolls that befit such beauty."

I snarled. "That is not going to happen," I told him.

"Where is Elizabeth?" Ciel demanded, but he continued like he had not even heard us.

"Now, what to make it out of?" His head fell to the side like the string holding it had briefly gone slack. "Clay flows too much, and iron quickly becomes brash…" he paused. "Therefore, I reason…_make it out of silver and gold, silver and gold, silver and gold…_"

_Not this again. _Ciel and I rushed through the door and found ourselves in another dark hallway. Except…

I took a step back, gripping Ciel's shoulder quickly. This walls of the hallway was covered in masks. Masks painted in gay colours, some with wigs and some with feathers, and every single one of them was singing along in voices that sounded like a cursed choir of demons.

"_Make it out of silver and gold, silver and gold, silver and gold! Make it out of silver and gold, my fair lady!_"

Ciel covered his ears. The song was getting to him. It was getting to me too, but we had to continue. "Get on my back," I told Ciel, kneeling down in front of him. "I'll carry you."

He stared at me with wide eyes. "Are you sure you can manage."

I scoffed and smiled. "Please, I have carried heavier." He wrapped his arms around my neck and his legs around my waist. I got to my feet, testing his weight and shifting my balance. For a twelve year old boy, he barely weighed anything. _You really need to eat more._ I started running, trying not to slip, trying not to let the eeriness of the music get to me.

_It's past midnight, _I realized. _It's his birthday today. He should be in bed, dreaming of presents and happy times. _

"_Make it out of silver and gold, silver and gold, silver and gold! Make it out of silver and gold, my fair lady!_"

_What happened? _My feet pounded against the stairs. _What happened to make him hate the day so much?_

There was a door up ahead, slightly open. There moonlight beyond it. I pushed myself to run faster.

_Sebastian… _

My eyes widened. I fell through the door, gasping for breath. Ciel pushed the door closed, shutting out the awful music. _Sebastian,_ I thought. _It has something to do with Sebastian._ No child makes a contract with a demon unless they have already experienced hell on earth.

After a moment, I looked up. The breaths froze in my throat and my chest. On the floor was a familiar symbol. A symbol that had been burned into my memory and onto my body. Beside me, Ciel also seemed catatonic, and he was shaking. Suddenly, everything fell into place.

We had both experienced the same hell.

The windows fluttered. "Nothing good ever seems to happen on your birthday, does it?" A voice asked. I whipped my head to the side. Sebastian was sitting perched on the windowsill. "You lose your mansion, your parents. This time, will you also lose Lady Elizabeth?"

I pulled Ciel towards me like I could protect him from Sebastian. _Like I could._ "Take it back," Ciel snapped.

Sebastian feigned innocence. "What?"

"Your impudence from before!" Ciel pulled away from me and faced the demon. I wrapped my arms around myself. I hadn't felt the chill before, but now I did.

Sebastian's gaze slid to me briefly, but I staunchly refused to look in his direction. "Young master," he looked back at Ciel. "You said you had minor business to take care of, did you not?" He smiled calmly, with a hint of mockery. "Does that business involve indulging yourself in the serenity of despair in order to escape your pitiful past?"

"Wanting to save someone you care about is not a bad thing," I said quietly, but with enough coldness and force in my tone to make them both turn to me. "Don't talk like you can even _fathom_ what it means to love anything that much. Maybe it's because you're a demon. You love nothing, so you can risk nothing for another."

I don't know where the words came from, but they flowed out of my mouth like sand and sawdust. Maybe Sebastian's mockery of Ciel's attempt to save Lady Elizabeth reminded me of my failed attempt to save my mother so long ago.

All the time, all through my speech, I never once looked at either of them, even after I finished. "Thalia…" I finally looked at Sebastian. His eyes were wide and he looked faintly surprised by my words. I looked away, feeling a bit bad about it. But only a little bit.

"_Make them out of iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel!_"

The music started up again. The door of the room burst open and many more dolls poured through, all made of iron and steel. "Grell was beaten?" Ciel gasped. _I hope Pluto is alright. _Ciel moved backwards away from them. I stood in front of him, and Sebastian came to stand beside us.

"Hmm?" He stared at the onslaught of dolls. "So they are manipulated through rhythm? In that case, _spin around from iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel!_" The dolls suddenly stopped walking and began to nod their heads in time to the music."_Spin around from iron and steel, my fair lady!_"

Ciel and I stared in shock as he landed between them, still singing, and proceeded to break every single metal neck until the dolls lay in a heap at our feet.

"_Spin around from iron and steel, my fair lady,_" he knelt down in front of me.

I felt my eye twitch. "Who the hell are you calling a lady?" _I would knee you in the face if you weren't fast enough to avoid me._

He just smirked at me and stood up. "We'll escape through the window," Sebastian reached for us.

"Stop!" The man from before, the one that moved like a puppet (from what I had seen, he probably _was_ a puppet) was standing at the door. He was holding a music box, the kind that you work by turning a handle around and around. "Those two are already the master's property," he told us.

My eye twitched again. "Property?" Ciel glared at the man. "Who do you think-!"

"The proof are the rings on your fingers." Ciel looked down at the ring on his thumb, while I suddenly remembered the one on mine. I pulled it off quickly. "The Shard of Hope is something the master presents to those who will become dolls," he explained.

"Master?" Sebastian echoed.

I don't think he could be cut off. He didn't respond to statements until he had finished what he was saying, like a pre-recorded message. "Ciel Phantomhive and Thalia Hawthorne will become dolls. Dolls made of silver and gold."

"Aw," I frowned. "But I don't like gold. How about we just use silver?"

Sebastian chuckled quietly, and then waved a finger at the puppet. "_Silver and gold both get snatched, both get snatched, both get snatched!_" Sebastian suddenly swept the two of us into his arms and leaped out of the window, essentially snatching us.

The ground rushed up to meet us, and we landed somewhere in the clearing on a stone bridge. "My, my," Sebastian put us down and looked up at the silhouetted castle. I suddenly became aware of the time, and how wide awake I felt even though it was probably around one in the morning.

_Slap!_

Sebastian stared at Ciel in shock, the young earl's hand was still up from the slap. Ciel had just struck Sebastian! I sucked my lips in and decided to stay quiet. "What about Lizzy?" He growled at the butler. "We left her behind! I ordered you to solve the kidnapping case! Saving Lizzy should have been part of that!"

"Orders and my contract are completely different things," Sebastian said. "Just as you prioritise the queen's orders, I must prioritise your safety. You are my young master, who I have served and protected faithfully." I took a step back as his eyes began to glow red. "I would never allow someone to take you after so long."

The two stared at each other for long time, and then Ciel spoke. "Thalia?"

"Yes, young master?"

"The ring." It was still in my hand. I had been gripping it tightly when Sebastian had jumped with us. I brushed past Sebastian and dropped it into Ciel's outstretched palm. The boy turned it over a few times between his gloved fingers.

"Young master?" Sebastian asked.

"This seems to be the sign of those to be attacked next," Ciel noted, not answering. He slid the ring onto the same finger as the other. The two shards of the Hope Diamond on the same person. This was probably tantamount to breaking a mirror underneath a ladder while a black cat walked past you. A smirk played over his mouth as he held up his hand. "Protecting me with two of these should be backbreaking work."

Sebastian and I stared at him quietly, and then the former smiled. He bowed. "Even so, I will still…"

The howl of a wolf cut through the air. My eyes widened. "Pluto! My puppy!" _Yay, he's alright!_

Sebastian spared me a glare that I didn't pay any attention to, before turning to Ciel. "I searched the mansion high and low, but I could not find a trace of Lady Elizabeth," he said. In the distance, I could see a tower rising out of the ground and piercing the moon at the top. "Now all that remains is that sealed tower."

When we reached the tower, Grell was struggling to hold Pluto. The demon dog was straining at his leash and barking at the tower. "You guys are still alive?" Ciel stared.

Grell was the first to spot us. "Sebby!" He leaped at Sebastian, arms outstretched for a hug. He was suddenly shoved to the ground as Pluto used his body as a springboard to tackle me. Like a dog, he stood on his hind legs (i.e. his legs) and rested his front legs (i.e. his hands) on my shoulders began nuzzling my face while making happy dog noises.

In response, I scratched behind his ears and made cooing noises. "Aw, Pluto! I'm so glad you're alright!" Dogs are awesome. I don't know why Sebastian doesn't like them. They are the cutest, most loyal companions a person will ever find. Also, they're good for cuddling. Unlike cats who only cuddle when _they_ want to cuddle, dogs will cuddle any time because they love you more than you know and probably deserve.

"Pluto," Sebastian suddenly barked. The demon dog stopped nuzzling me and went to gnaw playfully at Sebastian's legs.

I scowled at the man with unveiled irritation. "I wasn't done cuddling him yet!"

"What is this?" Grell yelled at us. And then his eyes widened. "Don't tell me that's a demon dog?"

Ciel arched an eyebrow. "Did you only just figure it out?"

Grell stared at Pluto for a long moment, and then- "Oh no! A feverish night with a beast!" He squealed, his nose gushing blood as weird images went through his mind. "How immoral!"

I sweatdropped. "That's disgusting."

"You really have no morals or standards, do you?" Sebastian stated. "At any rate," he looked down at Pluto, who had stopped chewing his leg and had started nosing around my boots. "Pluto, I was waiting for you."

"Why?" I asked curiously. "What do you need Pluto for?"

Sebastian nodded towards the huge door of the tower. "Doors sealed with an unearthly power can only be opened by a guard dog of hell." We got closer to the door and, sure enough, both Pluto's collar and the door began to glow. The glowing encompassed his entire body and Pluto transformed into his more canine form. As we watched, the door of the tower swung open, revealing a dark hallway.

_There has been so much darkness tonight._ However, I could feel something beyond the darkness calling to me. The four of us ran into the tower, up the steep, winding stone staircase until we reached a door near the top. There, we paused to catch our breath and mentally prepare ourselves for whatever was behind the door. Finally, Sebastian pushed it open, and we peered in.

It looked like a workshop for dolls. There were half-made dolls on the tables, and wood shavings, and working instruments. There were limbs, and heads, and coats of armour and weaponry pushed to the walls of the room. At the far end of the room, on a chair of her own, was Lady Elizabeth.

"Lizzy!" Ciel ran to her side and knelt down beside her. "Lizzy!" Her skin was smooth, too smooth to have been human. She was already a doll.

"It seems we're a bit late," Grell said, with little remorse. I reached up and yanked on his hair sharply. "Ow!"

"Be more considerate," I hissed.

Ciel kept shaking the doll of Lady Elizabeth, yelling out her name until her eyes finally flickered open. She didn't look dead like the other dolls. In fact, she seemed perfectly alright apart from the obvious metallic gleam of her skin. "Huh?" She murmured. "Ciel?"

"Lizzy!" Ciel exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

"The ring," she smiled softly. "You liked it right?" _The ring? Does she mean the Shard of Hope?_ I flashed back to the present she had tried to give to Ciel earlier, before quickly retracting it.

"That must have been the present she had wanted to give you," Sebastian said my thoughts aloud.

Ciel grit his teeth. "How foolish," he muttered. "Why for me…?"

Something glinted sharply, a metal string, and Lady Elizabeth's arm rose sharply. "Why, I wonder?" The voice of the puppet man came from all around us. The girl suddenly rose up into the air, arms outstretched at her sides and eyes wide with confused fear. "Why is my body moving all by itself? And…" An axe suddenly landed in Lady Elizabeth's hands. "…why is it trying to kill the one I love?"

My eyes widened. "Oh hell."

"Elizabeth!" I pushed Ciel out of the way, into Sebastian's arms, and quickly rolled away to avoid the clumsy but powerful strike.

She was screaming with every swing. "Stop, please! Make it stop!" The blade of the axe struck against the wall, knocking down a few stones.

The strings glinted in the light of the flames. "There are strings attached to her," I yelled. "Can we cut them?"

Sebastian jumped backwards to avoid a blow. "Grell," he called the red reaper who was playing with his scissors absentmindedly while the fight raged around him. "You can see the strings, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said. _I am going to hack off all your hair. _"But that blade might cut me."

"_I_ will cut you!" I yelled at him angrily, and then jumped backwards to avoid the axe again.

Sebastian caught hold the blade and smiled his most charming smile. "Please, Grell."

And thus, the reaper reacted accordingly. "Oh, Sebastian, are you asking me for a favour?" He batted his lashes coquettishly and began to squirm with barely repressed excitement. "Then, when we kiss, it will be with tongue!"

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sebastian frowned. "But I'll have you know that I tie cherry stalks with my tongue." I facepalmed. _That bit of information was so unnecessary! _Still, I could feel my face going a bit pink, but I attributed it to all the running and ducking I had been doing.

However, it got the job done. Grell turned to Lady Elizabeth with a determined look on his face. "To have a bigger weapon than me when you're nothing but a little girl?" He smirked. "I cannot forgive that!" He quickly sliced through the strings, and the girl fell to the ground. "Hmph!" Grell looked smug. "Only a death scythe edge cold be so sharp! I'm so great, aren't I Sebastian? Praise me, praise me!"

Sebastian glanced at him. "Amazing. You are most skilled with a pair of scissors, aren't you?"

I knelt down beside her, and reached for something on her shoulder. "It's puppet string," I held it up so that they could all see it. "And it leads to…"

We followed the trail of string up the rafters of the room. "I reasoned…" the puppet man spoke. Suddenly, more strings materialized (or they were always there. They were all rather fine, like spiders' silk) and wrapped around us tightly. "…that what I should use to make the dolls this time is-"

"Well, what are you made out of?" Sebastian interrupted him.

The puppet paused, as though thinking. "What am I made out of?"

"Yes," Sebastian smiled. "From what I can see, it does not appear to be a very strong material."

The puppet seemed to be considering this. "I reason," he began hesitantly. "That I was meant to be human. However," he reached up and poked a finger into his ear. "Lately, termites seem to be falling out of my ears." He removed his finger, releasing a small shower of sawdust and the aforementioned termites.

There was a movement on the ground, and I looked down in time to see Sebastian kick the axe up so that it stood vertically, and then he kicked it at the puppet. The blow unbalanced him from his perch, loosening the threads around us. I felt a sadistic sort of pleasure when Sebastian used Grell's head as a springboard to reach the puppet. In the next few seconds, the body of the puppet fell to the ground. His head, its head was hacked open to reveal wood shavings and straw.

Sebastian landed in front of us and dropped the axe. "As if I would lose to someone with no passion," he smirked.

"That's a passionate man for you," Grell sidled up to Sebastian's side and stared up at him with big, moony eyes. Ciel and I sweatdropped.

"Anyway," I looked down at the wooden man on the ground. "He was just another puppet."

"Drozell Keinz," Grell said. That was the name he had mentioned much earlier, the puppeteer whose soul he had come to inspect. Still, the man wasn't exactly…alive… "His soul was seized five years ago. However, for some reason, there was a reaction to his life force."

"A temporary soul must have been used by someone," Sebastian said. _Well I am learning so much tonight. _I frowned and folded my arms across my chest. Grell had mentioned my soul earlier as well. He had said that there was something strange about it. I put a hand on my chest, as though I could feel the essence of my spirit where my heart beat.

"Ciel…" I turned around. Lady Elizabeth's eyes opened slowly.

"Elizabeth!" The young earl looked relieved. "Let's go back to the mansion."

She smiled up at him. "I want to have a birthday party for you, Ciel."

Ciel stared at her silently, and there was so much sadness in his eyes. "Alright, Lizzy," he told her quietly. "Please celebrate for me." The girl smiled up at him softly, and then her eyes shut again. Her skin lost its shiny, metallic appearance and returned to normal. Ciel stroked her cheek gently. "It's okay. Everything is-"

"It's not over yet," Sebastian said. I turned around. The puppet, Drozell, was still moving. It struggled to its feet like a dying man bent on one last act. I lifted my leg to crush it down again. "No, don't." I stopped and stared at Sebastian. "He may lead us somewhere important."

I lowered my foot and allowed the puppet to rise to its feet shakily. "I reasoned…that I must report…to the master…" We watched Drozell as it walked jerkily, straw dropping from the gash in its head, until it finally reached a large white door on the other side of the room. "Master…" the puppet pushed the door open with the last of its strength, before collapsing to the ground in the room.

The room was large, beautiful, and devoid of furniture, save for a single high-backed chair that wasn't facing us. There was a man sitting on the chair and, whoever it was, Pluto seemed to like him quite a lot. The demon dog was lying on the ground in front of the chair and wagging his tail.

I took another step into the room. "Pluto!" I frowned when the dog licked at the person's hand. "He's being so friendly…"

The man spoke. "I do apologise," he said. "My butler was so incompetent that he couldn't even offer you a proper welcome."

"So you're the culprit," Ciel said. "Why are you turning young girls into dolls?"

"Flowers, eras, and people…" the man replied calmly. "Beauty is a fleeting thing. Doll making is an art that leaves behind the most beautiful and perfect things of the world."

His reply irritated me. "Nothing in this world is perfect," I snapped. "There are flaws in every single thing, even your precious little dolls."

"Besides that," Ciel glared at the back of the chair. "Why were you targeting Thalia and me? We have no desire to become one of your dolls!" He took of the gold band and threw it at the chair. It hit the chair with a sharp, quiet thud and fell to the carpeted floor.

There was silence for a second, and then the man spoke. "Please limit your insolence," he said coldly. "My butler's head was made from straw. I cannot fathom why he wanted _you_ of all people. Ciel Phantomhive, you have carried the fate of death since birth. That body of yours is already unclean."

Ciel stiffened beside me. "Shut up!" I yelled at the man. "You don't have the right to say that! You don't have the right to make such judgements-!"

"Thalia Hawthorne," he interrupted me. "You, on the other hand," he chuckled. "You are what I want. You have the essence of purity in you. I can sense it. It is in your very soul."

"What?" _My soul? Is…is that the strange thing that Grell mentioned?_ The essence of purity…

"The proof is the white of your hair," the man continued. "But your being is tainted by the mark on your body." My hand went to my neck in shock. How had he known about that? "As for you, Ciel, I cannot forgive the fact that something like you exists in this world. Something unclean, unwanted, barren…"

The shock I was feeling disappeared into red hot fury. "Shut up!"

The chair began to shake. "Get rid of the unclean, get rid of the unwanted! Get rid of it, get rid of it, get rid of it…!" His words grew faster, more frenzied, the voice grew higher in pitch until it began to grate at me with its sense of fanatical insanity.

Finally, I cracked. "_Shut up!_" I ran to the chair, arms raised to hit whoever was there. Except, there was no one there, and the voice stopped the second I reached it. There was just another puppet with a cloth bag for a head, and a smaller puppet resting between its legs, which suddenly rose to its feet and stared at us out of painted eyes.

I took a step backwards, unnerved by the fixed stare, and sensing that something was about to happen.

It did. The puppet's face suddenly fell apart as its eyes rolled up into its head and its mouth opened to reveal a grin of sharp teeth. It screamed shrilly, and then began to laugh maniacally. I stared as it hopped down from the chair and ran out of the room.

"Sebastian, catch it!" Ciel yelled.

"There's no point," Sebastian said. "The person controlling the strings is not in the vicinity. There are unseen strings attached all around here. They are far from pleasant."

_This whole night has been far from pleasant._ I decided to push the words of the puppet away for now. I could ruminate on them later. For now, we had to get out of here and get back to the mansion. I stroked Pluto gently, noticing that he seemed subdued now. _Whoever that person was,_ my eyes narrowed, _he knows Pluto._

The sun was already up by the time we were outside. _This is going to mess up my sleep pattern for a while._ "Sebby!" I winced when Grell screamed and leaped towards Sebastian. "Now that that's all over, give me a hot kiss!"

Sebastian crouched quickly, allowing the reaper to sail over his head and crash into the ground. He turned to Ciel. "How about it, young master?" He asked. "Would you like me to take revenge for Madame Red right here and now?"

Grell got to his feet quickly. "Fine, I'll leave the kiss until next time!"

"More like _never_," I murmured quietly. The red haired man blew a kiss at Sebastian, and then jumped away into the trees.

"Stop right the-!"

"It's okay," Ciel cut him off. The young boy touched Elizabeth's sleeping face gently. "I don't want Lizzy to be bathed in anymore blood."

I smiled. "That's sweet." Ciel glared at me like I had personally insulted him. "Oi, don't give me that look!" I smirked. "I meant that in the best possible way. It's not a crime to care about other people. Lady Elizabeth is lucky to have you." _Well shit, not I'm getting more emotional than I have to._ "Anyway," I yawned. "Can we start going home now?"

I didn't wait for them to start walking before I did.

**No One's POV**

Ciel and Sebastian watched the woman as she walked off, her braid swinging behind her. The red tips that made Ciel think of a bloodied paintbrush. He didn't know much about her, which was strange as he normally made it his business to know about his staff. Maybe it was because she hadn't been recruited by Sebastian.

_Still…_ "Sebastian…" The man looked down at his young master questioningly. "…what did that man mean earlier?" Ciel asked. "What does Thalia's soul smell like?"

Sebastian paused briefly. "Sweet," he replied after a moment. "Her soul is mostly human, but with an overtone. The overall scent is one I have never smelled before." He inhaled deeply, catching the lingering scent in the air. He fought to keep his eyes from glowing. "It's intoxicating."

"Hmm?" Ciel hummed, eying the demon curiously. "Then I suppose it's a good thing that I ordered you not to hurt her, isn't it?"

_I wouldn't, even if you hadn't,_ Sebastian thought. _She is mine. _"Yes, young master," he said out loud.

Ciel smiled to himself, and started walking. "I have a feeling that she means a lot more to you than you're letting on." Sebastian smiled as well, and thus the three began the journey back to the mansion.

oOo

I spent three hours during the day napping, after which Sebastian woke me up by ripping off my covers and telling me that we needed to prepare everything required for Ciel's birthday party. That meant a lot of baking, and polishing, and washing, and arranging, and ultimately having a bright pink party hat shoved onto my head by Lady Elizabeth, who seemed to have recovered fully from her ordeal.

Evening came and we gathered in the dining room to celebrate. The servants and I stood around the table, while Sebastian stood behind him and Lady Elizabeth sat to Ciel's right. "Happy birthday, Ciel!" She cheered. "Congratulations!"

"Congratulations young master!" The servants and I shouted. "Happy birthday!"

_The atmosphere is so sparkly and happy. I feel like I'm being splashed with a bucketful of fairy dust._

_Still_, I smiled. Sometimes it's nice to feel this way. There's nothing wrong with love, or wanting to protect someone, or wanting to be happy. I was glad that Ciel was able to celebrate his birthday and experience something like this.


	13. Winter and Freeloaders

**Hi everyone! Yes, another update for my story! And this time, I'm doing two chapters because I'm feeling generous, and because one of my reviewers asked me to, so thank Esharemet for that *waves at reviewer happily***

**I don't own Black Butler! I only own Thalia and her mysterious back-story **

**Winter and Freeloaders**

"_Do you think she is ready?_" _The voices were cold, hollow. The chains attached to my wrists that held me down were cold iron, but my whole body felt feverish with fear. My irises and pupils had shrunk into the white, and they darted frantically to every masked face, to the ceiling, to the walls…_

_What else were they going to do with me? They had cut me, and dunked me. My body was broken and riddled with scars and cuts. Some had faded, and others were still red scabs. Some had broken up and were bleeding onto the stone slab underneath me._

"_Tonight is the nice," one of the masked faces said. "_She_ said so._"

"_Bring the chalice!_"_A large cup of silver full of a dark red liquid was passed to the masked man standing above me. He held a knife in one hand, and the goblet in the other. "As you drink this blood," he intoned loudly. "May your soul be made pure by its cleansing fire!"_

_I clamped my mouth shut. The metal edge of the cup cut my lip as they forced it between my lips. Someone held my nose and, when I opened my mouth to gasp for breath, they poured the contents of the chalice down my throat._

_Screams poured out of my throat as I felt the liquid turn to fire and acid, and begin to burn inside me. _It hurts! It burns! Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop…!

"_Make it stop!_" I sat up in bed, panting for breath, feeling the lingering fear of my dream as my eyes darted around the darkness of my room. Soon, my breaths began to calm. "A nightmare," I murmured. I covered my face with my hands. "It was just a nightmare."

It had been three years since I had last dreamt of that time. Only three days had passed since Ciel's birthday, and since that man had told me something about my soul. Somehow, what had happened to me in those six months of torture, was linked to that man.

_Go back to sleep, _I lay back on the bed, but sleep eluded me. Every time my eyes shut, I saw masked faces in the darkness, and felt the phantom pain of a hundred old scars. I finally got out of bed and wrapped my blanket around my body. _Maybe if I sit outside for a while, I'll feel better._

The house was silent when I peered out of my room. I made my way to the balcony on the highest floor, and drew apart the door. Cold air blew against my face, and I shivered, feeling more wide awake than before. The stars were crystal clear in the night sky, and the moon was half full tonight. I wished it was full. Full moons are beautiful, and magical.

I leaned against the railing of the balcony and closed my eyes. I could hear night sounds, coupled with the faint sounds of people not asleep. Crickets chirped in the grass, and owls hooted quietly in the trees. A dark shape moved in one of the tress: Morgan. I could see her eyes gleaming in the shadows like lamps.

I was debating the pros and cons of going outside versus staying right where I was, when I heard quiet footsteps behind me. "You' catch a cold if you stay outside," Sebastian told me.

"A cold won't kill me," I turned to glance at him. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Don't you sleep? Or does your kind just sort of lurk shadily in the darkness?"

Sebastian smiled and came to stand in front of me. "Demons don't sleep," he informed me. "I wouldn't call it lurking though."

I scoffed. "You're shady anyway," I went back to staring at the stars. Sebastian shifted closer to me, close enough for our arms to brush. I could feel my heart rate increasing, but I still felt rather serene.

"Will you tell me why you we screaming earlier?" He suddenly asked. I looked at him sharply. He smiled at me calmly. "You were saying '_make it stop!_' and you sounded quite distressed. Did you have a nightmare?"

_None of your business. _"Yeah, I did. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I came out here." Outside, Morgan yowled quietly. "I wish she'd come inside," I frowned. "She isn't much for cuddles. I miss Pluto."

I didn't see the frown on Sebastian's face, but I felt it when his fingers tilted my chin up. I stared into his eyes bemusedly. "Why do you love that mutt so much?" He asked me. I blinked. _What?_ "You are forever cuddling and petting it. I can understand your affection for Morgan, but I don't like the way you fawn on that dog."

I scowled at him. "One, Pluto is not a mutt, okay? He is a demon dog, which is a breed on its own…I think…" Were demon dogs considered a proper breed? "And two, I love animals, okay? All animals! I like dogs because they are loyal, and friendly! Also, when you hug them, they don't expect anything in return because being with you is satisfaction enough."

Sebastian's brows pulled together in a frown. "Being with you is satisfaction enough," he repeated slowly. His lips suddenly began to curl upwards in a smirk. "Is that so?"

My eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking of you-!" I gasped when he suddenly grabbed my arm and yanked me against him. "What are you doing?" His arms wrapped around me, trapping me against him. "Let go of me!" I tried to shove him away, but his arms wrapped around me, trapping my arms to my sides.

"No," his lips were just by my ear. "You want to be comforted, right, Thalia?" I kept struggling, even though I knew I couldn't escape. His mouth brushed against my ear, and I shivered. "Let me comfort you tonight."

Slowly, my movements dwindled in force and frequency until they finally stopped altogether. I lowered my head and stared at the buttons on the chest of his uniform. He felt warm, and he was rubbing my back soothingly in soft, large motions. _It can't hurt…_ I leaned against him and let my eyes slide shut. _I guess it wouldn't hurt…_

I don't know how long I leaned against Sebastian. After a while, he stopped stroking me and I felt a gentle pressure on the top of my head. "Let's go back inside, Thalia." I hummed noncommittally and pushed away from him to stand on my own. I shivered as I realized just how cold it was, and quickly walked into the house.

Sebastian drew the door shut behind us once we were inside the house. I yawned, already feeling calm and drowsy. "Thank you, Sebastian," I told him. "I don't know what sudden burst of highly uncharacteristic pleasantness hit you tonight, but I suppose I'm glad that it did."

He feigned a hurt expression. "But aren't I always pleasant, Thalia?"

I snorted, and smiled. "Yes, of course you are Sebastian. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, dear Thalia."

oOo

No more nightmares plagued me the rest of the night. I slept like a log. However, when I woke up, everything that seemed so normal and perfectly alright to me last night, suddenly hit me like a bag of bricks as I was cleaning the parlour, and I froze.

_Shit, I hugged Sebastian! I let him hug me! I LITERALLY JUST MELTED INTO HIS ARMS LIKE ONE OF THOSE SILLY, SPINELESS HEROINES IN ALL THOSE ROMANCE BOOKS! WHAT THE HELL, THALIA? _

I groaned quietly, and went back to dusting with renewed vigour, as if I could get rid of my feelings as easily as I could get rid of dust. And I could. The problem was that, like dust, they would just come back. Usually at a less opportune moment when I really didn't want to have to deal with them.

"Thalia?" I jerked in shock, and turned around to face Sebastian. He was standing at the door and eying the room with a critical eye.

I placed my hands on my hips. "If you're looking for mistakes, then you'll probably find a lot," I informed him. "So don't."

He smiled. "No, that isn't why I came. Although," he came closer to me and took the duster from my hands. "You did miss a few places. Namely…" he suddenly began darting over the room, dusting and polishing like some sort of well oiled, futuristic machine. By the time he was done, the whole room was gleaming. "…there."

I felt my eyebrow twitch, and I snatched the duster from him. "Now that was just you showing off," I scoffed. He opened his mouth. "And if you dare say _I'm just one hell of a butler,_ I will literally shove this duster into your mouth."

"I didn't come here to irritate you, though your anger is…fascinating to watch…" I scowled at him, and his grin widened. "I came to tell you that the young master received a new case from the queen, and he requests that you accompany us."

"Well, since you've finished this place for me," I tossed the duster over my shoulder. "Then fine, I suppose. So, what's the case this time?"

An hour or so later, Sebastian, Ciel and I were walking down the streets of London, having had to take a long carriage ride from the country back to the city. Walking around the city as an actual female citizen was a bit of a novelty for me. I was so used to hiding in the shadows, or hiding my femininity with bandages and a large pageboy hat. To be able to walk around in the daytime so easily as a woman…well…it scared me a little, but it was definitely exhilarating. My hair attracted some attention, but that was alright. I was used to it.

The cool, crispness of autumn had given way to that chilly aura of early winter. It didn't snow much during the daytime, although the air still retained a cool chill that reminded you that it was still wintertime. However, during the night, the ground was usually covered in a soft, powdery layer of falling snow which melted by morning.

Even though he was much younger than we were (and much, _much_ younger than a certain _someone_)Ciel was clearly the one in charge. Sebastian and I stood on either side of him like a pair of bodyguards. I suddenly really missed my knives.

Ciel seemed to know exactly where we were going. After a few minutes of walking, we suddenly spotted a crowd gathered around what appeared to be a some sort of public hanging, except that didn't really happen anymore.

The men dangling from the wooden posts were bound and gagged. There were about five of them in all. Most of them looked rather fat. Ciel smirked. "I see they've already started without me," he murmured.

Scotland Yard was already there. I could see the chief inspector was already in the front, along with another inspector. A few policemen were already pulling down the bodies and covering them up with blankets. I assumed that the people weren't dead, otherwise the police wouldn't be treating the bodies to gently.

We made our way to the front like the crowd wasn't even there. I suppose that was Sebastian's fault, what with his ability to glare a demon dog into total submission, I doubt mere humans would be able to withstand it.

I leaned over Ciel as he read over the arm of the younger inspector. "A series of incidents targeting those who have returned from India?" He summarised from the report on the paper.

"Master Ciel!" He seemed surprised to see Ciel, though it wasn't like we had made our presence much of a secret anyway.

"It seems like there haven't been any fatalities yet," Ciel commented thoughtfully. I watched with a small smile as he walked over to the chief inspector and plucked a paper out of his hands. "_Crazy and lazy children, _huh?" He read aloud. I moved closer to his side while Sebastian hung back. "Well, the culprit's choice of wording seems highly appropriate," he remarked. "I also think the country would be much better off without the nouveau riche who come back from India. At any rate, this mark…"

At the lower left corner of the paper was what appeared to be a crude drawing of a mouth with a tongue sticking out. Before I could get a better look at it, the paper was snatched out of Ciel's hands. I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my gaze at the man. "They're making fun of us Englishmen," the chief inspector growled. "And Her Majesty the Queen!"

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. "Not really," I pointed out. "The queen really has nothing to do with this, actually." _She doesn't do too much anyway._

He growled at me. "Who is she?" He jerked his head at me. "Is she a new bodyguard of yours?" He asked mockingly.

Ciel smirked lightly. "Something like that," he raised his head. "Would you like a demonstration?" I smiled sweetly at the man when he glanced over at me.

"…no, I don't think so," he shook his head. Maybe he had seen Sebastian before, and he was afraid that Ciel had found someone like him. _I wish, although I can do some damage. _"At any rate," he continued. "The culprit has to be an Indian!"

"Ah," Ciel nodded. "So that's the reason I was called out. The vast majority of Indians that have been smuggled into the country are situated in the East End underworld society. Scotland Yard still has no idea of the exact number of Indians, or their precise locations."

You could practically see the vein about to explode from the chief inspector's forehead. Ciel could not have sounded more condescending if he'd tried.

"Well, we cannot sit idly by while the royal family is slandered," he turned to leave. "Let's go, Thalia, Sebastian." As we walked away, I could sense the angry gaze of the chief inspector. I turned my head and caught his eyes. A brief flash of recognition flashed in his eyes, and I looked away.

Sebastian glanced down at me. "What was that?"

I smiled and shrugged. "Oh, I just wanted to be sure he remembered who I was." Sebastian clearly wasn't satisfied with my answer, but he couldn't pump me for anything while Ciel was around.

The funny thing was that, even if Ciel hadn't known where the Indians were, I did. As a child, and as an orphan, I used to wander all over London, especially the most deplorable parts of it. Occasionally, I had found my way into Indian territory. Unfortunately, not all of them cared about being very nice to an Englishwoman, especially a child. I was easy meat.

I wondered if Scotland Yard could have hauled me in and forced me to tell them what I knew. They probably would have.

"This is where most Indians hang around," I said, as our surroundings changed from the clean, swept streets, to the rough cobblestones and dirty, blackened-brick houses. I frowned slightly. "Huh, it really hasn't changed much since the last time I was here."

Ciel glanced at me curiously. "You've been here before? Interesting…" Because he was taking in his surroundings and not watching where he was going, he accidentally bumped into a hunched over Indian man.

I was prepared to make Ciel apologize for knocking into him (because I was 98% sure he wouldn't do it on his own) but then the guy began to overreact. "Ow!" He clutched at his chest dramatically. "Oh, it's so painful!" He groaned. "I think my ribs may be broken! Damn it, I might die!"

We stared at the man as he began to moan and groan in apparent pain. It was clear that he was faking it. I had seen broken ribs and fractures before, and if his rib had been broken, he'd be doing less talking and more screaming. Anyway, you couldn't die from a broken rib unless it pierced your heart or lungs.

Unfortunately, not everyone else seemed to think so. The almost empty strip of street we were on suddenly filled up with hostile Indians who had caught wind of the situation. "Hey, what's going on? This is terrible! You broke this man's rib? You should leave us everything you own in payment for a doctor!"

Sebastian turned slightly to assess the situation. "We seem to have been surrounded by rather loutish thugs."

I sighed. "And to think we tried so hard not to draw attention to ourselves." I let my arms dangle loosely at my sides and eyed our opponents critically.

"Young master," Sebastian cracked his knuckles in preparation for what was to come. "What are your orders?"

Ciel barely raised his head. "Take care of this quickly," he ordered. One of the men, the one with the supposedly broken rib, grabbed Ciel by the front of his shirt and yanked him forward.

"All the Indians here have a grudge against you English," he snarled in his face, and then he held up a rather sharp dagger to his face. I had to give Ciel credit, he barely flinched. Still, I didn't take to kindly to the way the man was holding him, or to the knife in his hand. I stepped forward and, with one hand, pulled Ciel out of his grip. With the other hand, I jabbed the man squarely in the chest. He fell backwards, clearly winded and gasping for air.

"I thought your rib was broken," I pushed Ciel behind me. "That move should have killed you."

"Are you alright, young master?" Sebastian asked. Ciel nodded, adjusting his hat carefully.

The man staggered to his feet with a snarl. "You bitch! You English are all the same! After dragging us all the way out here, you just threw us away like junk! You raped and looted our country!" I winced at his choice of words. "Now it's your turn to taste the humiliation of being looted and pillaged!" The man raised his knife. Sebastian and I prepared to defend Ciel.

And then... "Wait!" We paused and turned towards the sound of the voice. There was an Indian man walking out of one of the alleys.

He was quite handsome, I decided, and young. He was either in his late teens, or early twenties, and he was dressed rather regally. There was another man with him. This one has a bit taller, and had a sort of turban around his head, and white bandages wrapped around his right hand. Judging that his hand did not seem to be injured in any way, I decided that he had to be a fighter, most likely the man's bodyguard.

He walked closer and held up a paper with crudely drawn picture of a woman. "We are looking for someone. Have you seen this woman?" The image looked like a six year old had done it. The only way to identify the image as female were the rough lines streaming out of what appeared to be the head. I bit down on my bottom lip to hide my smile.

The Indian man that had been in the middle of looting and pillaging us spun around to growl at him. "What do you want, you bastard? Don't interrupt me!"

"Are you having a duel or something?" He came closer, smiling now. He had pretty golden eyes. "Oh, the child has two _khansamas_ with him. Are you an English noble?"

Ciel's eyes narrowed. "And what if I am?"

"In that case," he stopped beside the other man. "Then I shall side with my countrymen in this quarrel," he turned to the man behind him. "Agni."

"Yes?" I stared at Agni, glad to have a name. He looked older, and sterner than his master, and his hair was white. He was also handsome in a stricter, sadder sort of way.

"Defeat them." _Wait, what? _To think, we only came here to look for culprits.

"_Jo ajna_," he stepped forward and began to unwrap the bandages from his hand. "My right hand, blessed by god, shall only be wielded for my master!" He suddenly charged at us with almost superhuman speed.

I grabbed Ciel and hefted him into my arms, bridal style. "I'm just gonna let Sebastian handle this. You, come with me," I jumped out of the way with him just as Agni struck at Sebastian. I knew my strengths, I really did, and I knew that this fight was Sebastian's. Agni was fast, very fast, and his right hand seemed to glow with energy. Right now, all I could do was take care of Ciel and make sure no one tried to grab him while Sebastian was occupied.

He, on the other hand, did not seem too happy about it. "Oi, put me down!"

"In a second," I rolled out of the way as Agni landed where we had previously been a few seconds ago. "Or not. Just hold on, alright?" Thank god I was strong, and that I had the speed and stamina to do this. You thinking jumping from place to place while carrying a thirteen year old boy? Yes, Ciel is a bit of a lightweight, but still.

Agni glared at Sebastian. "I've hit your vital points several times now," he stared at the demon. "You should already be paralysed. How can you still move?" _Take it from someone who has tried, that shit does not work on him._

I put Ciel down and grabbed his cane from the ground while he snapped at the Indians. "Hey, we were just passing through here!" He yelled. "Are Indians barbarians who discriminate with no discretion?"

"What?" The Indian man with the purple hair looked surprised, and then he glared at the others. "You people, did you attack this little one here for no reason?" Their nervous faces were answer enough. "That is not right. This time, my countrymen are at fault. Agni, take the little one's side."

I sweatdropped at the sudden change in sides. "Understood." Five seconds later, there was a pile of unconscious Indian men strewn on the streets. The ones that could get away had disappeared as quickly as possible. "It's taken care of, Prince Soma." _Wait, _my eyes widened as I stared at the man. _He's a prince? Well, that makes sense._

"That's good." The prince, Soma, walked forward and picked up Ciel's hat from the ground. "Well, I was in the middle of searching for someone, so I had better get going," he tossed the hat to me. "See you." And with that, they both walked away like nothing important had happened. I wondered if this sort of thing happened normally in India, or if he just didn't care.

oOo

We returned to the mansion, silently declaring that day to be a bust, but I could tell that Ciel and Sebastian were still thinking about the Indian prince and his butler. It was dark and pouring with rain by the time we got home. "I'm completely drained," Ciel sighed as I opened the door for him, and then shook out the umbrella and hung it up by the door.

"The culprit may have been one of those Indian people," Sebastian said as he removed Ciel's cloak. "Let us await Master Randall's report." Finny, Bard and Mey-Rin came to welcome us back. I smiled and went to stand beside Mey-Rin. I wanted to tell her about the day, although I already knew what part would really interest her.

Ciel huffed. "If I keep getting called out to London for all these trivial cases, there'll be no end to it."

At that moment, the front door flew open and one of my least favourite people in the world appeared in the frame. "Ah, Earl!" Lau beamed. "So you really did come!" _Someone restrain me, hold me down, tie me up, because I might just do something drastic._ His gaze landed on me and his smile widened. "Oh, Ms. Thalia, have you tried out my gift?"

Finny immediately grabbed my arms before I could do anything stupid, so all I could do was shoot knives at him via my gaze. Ciel didn't seem too happy to see him either. "You're always so unannounced! I keep telling you that, if you want to visit, at least send a letter or something first!" _Or, better yet, don't come at all._

Lau just laughed carelessly. "Oh, have you said that before?"

Sebastian turned to Ciel. "Since we have a guest now, I shall go prepare some tea," his gaze slid to me. "Thalia will help me." I blinked and stared at Sebastian curiously. Finny released my arms as he continued. "Unless you want her to attack the guest." I blushed slightly and stopped growling at Lau.

Ciel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Both of you, go, and hurry back."

"I'd prefer an English Chai blend," Lau piped up cheerfully. I glared at him. _Does this look like a restaurant to you? _Sebastian grabbed my arm, almost as though he could see the inner workings of my mind and knew that I was a second away from knocking the guy unconscious and kicking him into the cold and rain.

I pouted up at him. He just smiled and patted my head like I was Morgan, and then I spotted two more people in the doorway. Two, very familiar people.

Standing in the doorway of the mansion was the Indian prince and his bodyguard or – what had he called him before? – his _khansama_. "Oh, I met them on my way here," Lau waved a hand at them. "Just around the corner, actually, and they said they wanted to meet the Earl."

Ciel looked beyond shocked, and very annoyed. I assumed that meeting someone who was on par with Sebastian, and who wasn't a demon, rattled him. Sebastian didn't seem to put off though. Being a rather ancient demon, I was sure he had experienced something like that before. "Why are you here?"

"Why?" The prince smiled. "We got acquainted earlier, did we not?"

"Acquainted?" Ciel repeated.

"Also, we saved you," Prince Soma added as they made their way past us and into the house. _Polite, they are not. He is a prince though, so he's probably used to people stepping aside for him._ I wasn't sure whether to like him or not.

At least Ciel had already made up his mind about the young Prince. "Saved me?" He choked. "How did you save me?"

He didn't answer the question. "In India, hosting people to whom you are indebted to is common sense," he said over his shoulder. "Or is it the English custom to throw visitors out under the cold sky?"

_Of course not, but at least have some manners._ I folded my arms across my chest._ Don't just waltz around like you own the place. When in Rome, right?_ I glared at his back. Since he didn't stop, we followed him up the stairs and found him making himself comfortable in one of the spare rooms. "Who are you anyway?" Ciel snapped at him.

"Me?" Prince Soma smiled. "I am a prince."

"A prince?" Sebastian repeated. _Well, yeah. Were none of you listening earlier?_ The other servants crowded the door to get a look at him.

The prince's _khansama_, Agni, finally spoke. "This person before you is the Bengal Kingdom's Prince, the 26th successor: Prince Soma Asman Cadart." _Impressive title, _my eyes narrowed, _too bad I really don't care._

He smiled charmingly. "I'll be imposing on you for a while, Little One." _Ooh, Ciel won't like that._

"Wow, a Prince!" Finny cheered.

"A...A prince!" Mey-Rin was probably comparing him to one of the characters in one of her books. I was surprised her nose wasn't spurting like mount Vesuvius.

Even Bard wasn't spared from this horrifying bout of excitement. "This is the first time I've seen a real prince in the flesh!"

He just smiled, like he knew the effect his presence had on them. "I consent," he waved a hand regally. "You may come closer." _What the fuck? Who the hell do you think you are? This isn't even your house you jerk! Stop acting like you deserve any of this you arrogant, pompous brat! _

I said none of these things aloud. Partially because I have self-control, and mostly because Sebastian quickly covered my mouth with one gloved hand before I could. Bard, Mey-Rin, and Finny, immediately ran over to him, practically falling over themselves to ask questions.

Lau wandered over to us. "So you brought servants this time?"

"Yes," Sebastian nodded. "We have a guard dog to protect the manor while we're away now."

"Eh? Well that must be a relief."

Sebastian removed his hand from my mouth and I folded my arms across my chest with a quiet huff of air. "Keep a close eye on them," Ciel murmured to us.

"Understood," Sebastian bowed at the waist. I hummed my agreement.


	14. Arrogance and Sword Fights

**Behold, a double chapter because I love all of you so much! *blows kisses* I don't own Black Butler whatsoever!**

**Arrogance and Sword Fights**

The Indian guests we had made dinner rather awkward. First Soma wanted to sit at the head of the table where Ciel usually sat, which just caused a full minute of intense eye contact, and then Ciel arched an eyebrow and asked the kid "what do you think you are doing?"

In the end, after a few more glares, some muttered insults, and some serious diplomatic wrangling by Sebastian and Agni, Soma finally consented to sitting at Ciel's right. I didn't say a word, as I was still on Ciel's side. I didn't care for Soma much. He acted spoiled, like the whole world had to defer to him just because he happened to be a prince. He hadn't worked to gain the title, and it didn't look like he was doing anything to be worthy of it.

Unfortunately, he seemed to hold a sort of childlike fascination with my hair. He kept staring at my braid while I was cleaning up the dining table. It was a bit creepy, but not much. It was mostly just a tad disconcerting.

The next morning, I woke up a full thirty minutes earlier than usual the next morning, which was odd considering for me because I really liked sleeping. There were only three reasons for me to wake up very early in the morning:

One, Sebastian came to wake me up in his typical _I'm-taking-great-pleasure-in-your-pain_ sort of way.

Two, Pluto came to wake me up by howling randomly outside my window until I came outside and scratched his belly.

Finally three, something was intrinsically different about the day.

This time, it had to be three. We had guests staying over. I sighed and flopped backwards onto my pillow. Even if I didn't care much, my body said otherwise. A part of me was interested about the Indian guests we had, even if I didn't care too much for them. Or, at least, I didn't care much for the prince. I didn't know enough about Agni to form a reasonable impression, other than that he was extremely loyal. I guess that's a good thing, right?

After lying in bed for ten minutes, just staring at the ceiling and trying to fall back asleep, I finally rolled out from underneath my covers and stretched. I bathed quickly, paying special attention to the back of my neck. Whatever Sebastian had seen there, and whatever that puppet had known, it had to be something weird.

I ran a hand over the skin with a frown, and then I sighed and climbed out of the bath. I quickly donned my uniform and met Sebastian in front of my door. "Oh," he blinked. "I see that you're already up."

Was it just me, or did he look disappointed. I smirked and folded my arms across my chest. "Yeah, sorry I denied you our daily pleasure of kicking me out of bed," I walked out the room and watched him shut the door behind me. "Are you going to wake Ciel up now?" I quizzed him. Sebastian nodded. I followed him to Ciel's bedroom.

"Hmm," Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "Why is the door already open? It is unlikely the young master actually woke up by himself…"

We got closer to the open door, and I was nearly tackled by Prince Soma on his way out. He was holding Ciel in his arms. The poor kid was still in his bedclothes, and he looked really put out by all of this. I giggled quietly, and neatly plucked him out of Soma's hands. "Yeah, I'll be taking _him_, thank you." Even though Ciel didn't like being carried by me, he definitely preferred it to being carted around by the prince. "Good morning young master!" I cooed.

He scowled at me. "Be quiet."

I pouted and stuck my tongue out at him. "You know, you could stand to be a bit nicer. You're going to get a lot of wrinkles if you keep scowling at everything."

He just scowled some more. "Shut up, Thalia," he repeated.

"See? I can see some forming already!"

"I said shut up! It's too early for all of this!"

Sebastian sighed at the two of us, and then he smiled politely at Soma and Agni. "I'm sorry to intrude," he said. "But the young master has studies and work duties to attend to today, and so will be busy for most of the day."

"See, the young master is a very busy person right now," I smiled prettily at them. "So, if you don't mind, I'll take you to the dining room for breakfast." I handed Ciel to Sebastian and walked out of the room. When I glanced behind me, the two of them were following me.

Almost as soon as we were out of the room, Soma jogged to catch up with me. He was smiling widely at me. "I've never seen hair like yours before," he commented curiously. "It's two different colours. Is this common in your country?"

"No," I replied. "My hair is actually one of a kind, as far as I can tell." I couldn't help reaching back and grabbing the long braid I had tied my hair into. White, pure white, all the way down to the blood-red tips.

Soma jumped in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. "It's very beautiful," he complimented me warmly. "Don't you think so, Agni?" He turned to the man behind us.

Agni turned to me with an equally warm, if not as careless, smile and a bow. "Your hair is very unique and lovely, Miss Thalia."

I thawed just a tad. For all Prince Soma's rude actions, he seemed honest enough, and he could be rather nice. Agni also seemed to be quite sweet as well. Certainly he was loyal, and willing to do anything for his master. He was a bit like Sebastian, only he wasn't an evil, soul-sucking demon forced into pre-determined submission by a Faustian contract.

I gave the two of them a less fake smile, and we resumed the walk to the dining room.

oOo

The first lesson Ciel had after breakfast was a violin lesson, with Sebastian as his teacher. I was sitting on a cheer a few feet away watching Ciel tune the stringed instrument, and then eye the sheet music resting on the stand with irritation. "_Bach's Chaconne?_" He glared up at Sebastian. "There is no way I can play a melody as complex as-!"

Sebastian tipped his chin up with the tip of his own violin bow. "While we are here, I make the rules," he smirked down at Ciel, probably basking in the flip in power. "Do you have a problem with my teaching methods?"

Ciel scowled and pushed Sebastian's bow away from his face. I giggled quietly, and he turned and glared at me. "And why are _you_ here?" He snapped. "Don't you have chores to do?"

"In fact, I do not," I smiled and lifted my hands in a shrug. "I like music. Think of me as an unofficial judge. If I wince, scream, and run out of the room with my hands over my ears, then you know you've done something wrong."The scowl on his face only became more pronounced. "At any rate, I'm sure you can play it."

Ciel turned his back on me and arranged the instrument under his chin. He took a deep breath and placed the bow to the strings. My eyes slid shut as the music began to flow from the violin's strings. It was beautiful, not entirely flawless, but still very well played. I had always wanted to be able to play proper songs on an instrument. Sadly, all I knew how to play were raunchy tunes on the piano.

A sudden sound snapped me out of my thoughts. It sounded like loud chanting, and low hums. I glanced around the room and quickly spotted the source of the strange sounds.

The prince and Agni had managed to carry a huge statue into the music room. They had placed it on top of the piano, and were currently kneeling at its feet and praying. "Did anyone see how they got that in here?" I wondered.

The violin music cut off sharply. "What on earth?" Ciel stared at the statue.

"It seems like they're praying," Lau said. "But that is a rather fantastic idol, isn't it?" I walked over to it, curiousity overtaking me for a moment. He was right, it was rather fantastic to look at. It was also a bit terrifying. I wanted to reach out and touch it, but I didn't.

Sebastian came to stand next to me. "All I can see is a statue of a woman carrying a head," he said, nonplussed. "With a necklace of heads around her neck, and dancing on the belly of a man."

"She has four arms," I noted with interest. "I've seen a picture of her somewhere before. Is she one of the Hindu goddesses?" Sometimes, if I managed to get cleaned up enough, and I had nothing to do, I would spend time in libraries reading the books. They helped kill time, and provided me with something to muse on later.

Agni looked at me, apparently impressed. "You know a little about Hindu culture," he smiled. I blushed slightly at his praise, and deliberately avoided Ciel's gaze. "She is the goddess Kali," he explained. "She is one of the Hindu gods we worship.

Ciel stopped staring at me so pointedly, and I relaxed. "Indian goddesses, huh?"

"Kali is the wife of Shiva, the god of power," Agni went on. "In far distant times, a demon recklessly challenged her to a fight. Of course, the goddess Kali won. However, she was unable to quell her destructive urges and she went on a rampage of death and destruction!"

Though neither Ciel nor Sebastian seemed to care too much, I was spellbound by the story. I could almost see it in my mind's eye. Flames, darkness, and a woman with a necklace of newly beheaded heads around her neck.

"In a bid to defend the earth," Agni pointed at the statue. "Her husband, the god Shiva, lay down at her feet. Having stepped on her husband with her unclean feet, the goddess Kali returned to her senses and the earth became peaceful once again," he resumed his prayerful pose once again. "Kali is a great goddess who defeated a demon after a mighty battle. As proof of this, she holds the demon's head in her hands."

"Whoa…" I gaped up at the statue, seeing it in a new light.

Ciel glanced back at Sebastian. "Is there any truth to this story?"

"To think there was someone as strong as that," Sebastian looked thoughtful. "I will have to be careful if I ever go to India." I couldn't help snickering at that.

The prince got up. "Well, our prayers are concluded," he beamed and suddenly hooked his arms around both Ciel and I. "Well then, let's go out!"

"What?" I yelped. "Why am I included in this now?"

Ciel struggled wildly in his grip. "Like I said before, I'm busy today!" He yelled at Soma. "So could you kindly let go?"

Soma stopped and pouted. "But I want to go out," he frowned, and then he beamed. "Oh, could your maid show us around instead?" He released Ciel and turned to me. "I want to talk to her more." I simultaneously blushed and sweatdropped. The first reaction was because what he said was kind of flirtatious and I have no idea how to respond to non-lecherous flirting. I either stare blankly and then shoot the person down like a bison during hunting season, or I blush. There is no in-between.

The second reaction was because I could nearly _feel_ the evil aura pouring off Sebastian. Even though he was still wearing that calm, polite smile, there was an undertone to it that said _I-will-slaughter-you-violently-and-then-burn-everything-you-hold-dear_.

Fortunately, he managed to hold himself in check. "I'm sorry, but Thalia will also be busy today with chores," he said. I blinked and stared at him with confusion. _Since when do I have chores?_ He turned his smile to me, only this time it mostly resembled a smirk. "Her first set of chores will be fetching the fencing swords for the next part of the young master's lesson."

I pouted and twisted myself out of Soma's hold to walk over to the set of fencing swords parked in the corner near the window. "Huh," I pulled out one and eyed the blunt, rounded tip. "I've never seen one of these in real life before." It was lighter than I expected, and rather flexible. I pulled out another one and twirled both of them experimentally.

Ciel cleared his throat. "Sometime today, perhaps?" He arched an eyebrow meaningfully. I stuck my tongue out at him and tossed one of the swords to him. The other went to Sebastian. I went to stand beside Agni while they trained. Ciel was quite talented with the sword, I noted. I smiled slightly as I watched him dodge and parry the attacks.

"Tea?" I blinked and stared at Agni. He was holding out a cup of tea to me. It smelled very aromatic, very different from the English teas Ciel drank all the time. I accepted the cup with a grateful smile and took a sip. It tasted like flowers and hot nectar.

Agni and I sipped and watched Ciel and Sebastian. Soma, on the other hand, lay flopped down on a floor pillow. "Hey, when are you going to be finished?" He moaned occasionally. "Hey, what are you doing anyway?" He sounded like a spoiled child. _He is a spoiled child,_ I reminded myself.

His groans were getting to Ciel, who nearly missed a parry. "Be quiet!" He snapped. "You'll distract us!"

Soma sighed and leaned his chin against his hand. "English people are very short-tempered, aren't they?" He commented. "They're always snapping all the time." I twitched, but concentrated on my tea. That tea was the only thing keeping me calm, and preventing me from throwing him out of the room. Well, the tea and Agni's scary-fast right hand.

Ciel cracked. He snatched the other fencing sword out of Sebastian's hand. "Enough!" He yelled, turning to Prince Soma with a furious glare. "I get it! You want my attention so badly, then here!" He tossed the sword to Soma. "I'll be your opponent!"

Soma caught the sword by the hilt with a pleased smirk, even though I had wished that it would knock him in the face. "So, if I win, you'll come out with us?" He asked. Ciel agreed to the terms with a reluctant nod. "Then I accept!"

"Good luck," Agni said.

"Go Ciel!" I cheered, and then I held out my cup to Agni. "More tea please." I was going to need it. I sipped more of the fragrant liquid as Sebastian made his way between them and raised his hand for the start of the match. The look on his face was amusing, I thought. He looked so done with everything.

"Well then," he brought his hand down. "Begin!"

Soma immediately rushed Ciel, and tried to trip him up with the sword, which bent. The shocked look on his face made me wonder if he had even _looked_ at the thing in his hands. _At least he can dodge_, I thought as he proceeded to duck most of Ciel's attacks. "This is unfair!" He yelled. "I don't know the rules to this!"

_Then you should have asked._ "A match is a match," Ciel made a false jab and pulled back. "It's your fault for not knowing." He suddenly rushed Soma, and would probably have flipped the prince's weapon out of his hands, if not for a rather sudden interference.

"Prince!" Suddenly, Agni was no longer beside me. The white haired Indian blocked the tip of the foil with a cup, and the jabbed Ciel in the arm. Once he realised what he had done, he gasped. "Master Ciel!"

Unfortunately for him, I was faster than his remorse. I was at Ciel's side in the next second, and I slapped his hands away when he reached for the boy. "Don't touch him!" I snapped, not sure who I was more angry with: Agni, or Soma. I helped Ciel cradle his partially paralysed arm to his chest, before turning my anger on them. "What the hell?" I snapped at Agni. "Why would you do that?"

He, at least, looked penitent. "I'm sorry," he bowed. "When I thought that the prince was about to lose, my body moved on its own."

Like I said, at least _he_ seemed truly sorry for what he had done. Soma, on the other hand, burst out laughing. "Well done Agni," he praised. "You protected me well! I commend you!" He smirked proudly. "Agni is my _khansama_, and he belongs to me, therefore the win was mine."

I bristled. No, actually, I developed spines like a porcupine and then those spines lit on fire. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," I snarled, getting to my feet. "You would have lost if Agni hadn't stepped in, and he shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place! Or don't you understand the point of one-on-one competitions?"

Agni blinked at me, clearly surprised by my anger, but I couldn't help it. Soma was really getting on my nerves. Ciel reached out and tugged on my skirt. With great reluctance, I stopped glaring at Prince Soma and leaned down to help my young master to his feet. "My, my," Lau picked up a foil with a smile. "The maid is quite upset. It looks like you will have to take your master's revenge, Mr. Butler," he flipped the blade to Sebastian, who caught it expertly.

"Good grief," he sighed. "This happened because you teased an amateur." _No, this happened because Soma was acting like a brat! _Both Ciel and I turned to glare at Sebastian simultaneously. "Nonetheless, as a Phantomhive butler, now that my master has been injured I cannot merely sit back and watch." I relaxed and folded my arms across my chest. "At any rate, we are ten minutes behind schedule."

Ciel facepalmed. "So that's what you were really worried about."

"This is not the time to be worried about that!" I snapped at the glanced down at me out of the corner of his eyes with a smirk on his face.

Soma rested the fencing sword on his shoulder. "Fine," he acquiesced. "I will allow a duel. Agni," he passed the sword to the man. "In the name of the goddess Kali, do not lose!"

Ciel touched his eye-patch and glared at Soma. "Sebastian, this is an order," he said. "Shut that brat up!" _Well that could be construed in many ways,_ I thought as the two men stood opposite each other. _It could range from winning this fight, to sewing his mouth shut with a red hot, sterilised needle._

"_Jo ajna_."

"Yes, my lord."

I moved between them and raised my arm to mark the beginning of the fight. "Begin!"


	15. The Difference in Butlers

**I don't own Black Butler. Sorry, this is a hurried update because I have school and my head hurts :P**

**The Difference in Butlers**

Ten minutes later, Ciel, Soma and I stared in absolute shock at the sight before us. The foils had snapped. The foils had freaking snapped, I didn't even know that was physically possible! What were the odds of something like that happening? What the hell, who the heck was this guy? He had gone against a freaking demon and he was still standing!

Soma, on the other hand, once he recovered from his surprise, he seemed pleased with the outcome of the fight though. "Wow, your _khansama _is pretty good," he complimented Ciel. "Agni is the best fighter in my castle. This is the first time I've met someone who can fight on par with him!" We were barely listening to him. I could tell Ciel was just as stunned as I was.

I followed him as he went to stand beside Sebastian. "What the hell just happened?" I stared at Agni as he walked back to his prince and the two of them began to converse.

"Sebastian," Ciel's eyes narrowed. "Just what is that man?" He asked. "Don't tell me he's another one of _those._"

"By _those_, do you mean something like that thing you tried to sell Sebastian to?" Grell's face flashed in my mind and I shuddered.

Sebastian looked like he wanted to shudder as well, and then he just smiled easily. He didn't look at all put out by the fact that he had drawn with a human. I wasn't sure whether to punch him or applaud his good sportsmanship. "No," he replied. "He's certainly human through and through."

"But so much power in one man," I hissed at the two of them. "It doesn't seem possible for him to be entirely human."

Ciel hummed his agreement. Sebastian watched Agni quietly. "Still, it would make it extremely easy for him to hang those men," he pointed out. My eyes widened in shock as his words rang true. Still, I wasn't sure why Agni would do that. He didn't seem like that sort of person at all. He seemed like a genuinely good person, unlike his master. "I'll be sure to keep an eye on them."

"Are you done speaking?" I turned to stare at Prince Soma and Agni. "It's rather late now," he beamed at us cheerfully, everything from the past few minutes were already forgotten. "When do we eat?"

* * *

oOo

* * *

I sweatdropped as I watched Bard attempt to start preparing dinner on his own, only for Sebastian to appear and snatch the pots and pans out of his hands as he picked them up. "I'll make the preparations," he told the blonde man calmly. "You just remain calm and stay put." I sighed and leaned against the counter. _Well, he does sort of have a point,_ I thought to myself. _I'm tired of cleaning the charred remains of the food out of the oven._

"What the–?" Bard gaped at Sebastian's back. "I was going to make my special dish today!" He complained. He suddenly turned to me after seeing that Sebastian wasn't even listening. "Thalia, tell him that I'm the chef and so I should do the cooking!"

I stared at him blankly. "Why me?" I asked. "He doesn't listen to me! I'm not allowed to cook either!" I think that one time was a fluke of luck, or just him being oddly lenient. "Besides, you do have a habit of putting dynamite in the food…" I shrugged. "Forgive me if I'm not so quick to defend your cooking skills."

Bard scowled down at me. "Ugh, I should have known you'd never go against that butler," he grunted. "You like him too much, dontcha?" Bard teased. I flushed bright red – for crying out loud, the person in question was still right _here!_ – and then I raised a hand to punch him in the face.

"Excuse me." I quickly dropped my hand and twisted my head to look at the doorway. Agni stood politely, just barely crossing the threshold. Unlike Prince Soma, who would have waltzed right in and everyone else be damned, he seemed to understand the basic points of being courteous. "Mr. Sebastian, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help."

I blinked and placed a hand on my hip. "It is all in hand," Sebastian replied politely. "You should go back and relax now."

Agni took another step into the kitchen. "Four hands are better than two," he said earnestly. "If there is something I can do, please let me know."

Sebastian frowned slightly, I got the feeling he didn't like anyone messing with his schedule, and then the frown was replaced by an affable, close-eyed smile. "Well then," he began. "Might I ask you to help with the preparation of the gooseberry sauce and the cottage pie for tonight's main dish?"

"Of course," Agni bowed slightly at the waist with a smile. _The hell? _I narrowed my gaze pointedly at Sebastian.

"How come we don't get to cook when we're actual servants here?" I scowled as he just walked past me without even glancing my way. I was so sure he was smirking. However, as he walked past Agni to leave the kitchen, I sensed a shift in his emotions: distrust, annoyance, and some curiousity. Since when was so in tune with Sebastian's moods? I sighed. "I told you he doesn't listen to me," I glanced at Bard.

Bard exhaled a disappointed, angry sigh, and flopped down on the short stool in the kitchen. I stared at him for a moment, and then stared at the pile of ingredients on the table. _So many vegetables, so many ingredients…_ I considered the theory that the reasoning behind Sebastian's actions in letting Agni cook was that he was actually pissed off about the fight, and wanted to prove that he was still the better butler.

I shook my head to dispel those thoughts, and twirled the vegetable knife on the table. Sebastian was above petty games like that, wasn't he? He was centuries old. He couldn't be thinking like that.

_Still..._ "Chef?" I jerked myself out of my thoughts. "Mr. Chef?" _Chef? Who is Agni talking to?_ And then I remembered that Bard was still there.

Even he seemed confused by the fact that someone was calling him by his actual household position. Sometimes I wondered why Ciel had even bothered hiring any other household staff. Sebastian could do everything they could, and a box of chocolates. Sometimes I even wondered why he had hired _me_.

"Who, me?" Bard pointed at himself to be sure it was to him Agni was referring.

Agni nodded with a smile. "I am not that accustomed to English cooking," he explained. "May I ask for your assistance?"

_No, don't do it!_ I wanted to I wanted to yell, but I didn't. Why? Because Bard looked so damned _happy_. As though, in that singular moment, all of his life dreams were coming true. I couldn't crush that. I sighed and went back to playing with the knife. As long as not a lick of gunpowder or explosives got close to oven, it would be fine.

"Miss. Thalia?" I jumped and stared at him blankly. I had forgiven him for popping Ciel in the arm, but I was still just a bit wary of him. However, his smile seemed disarmingly honest. "Do you think you could help me cut up the peppers?"

Bard was already hard at work, lining up onions, and then dicing them finely. He was actually quite good, I noted. Why wasn't he always like this? I turned my attention back to the man in front of me. "Yeah, sure…" I grabbed one of the bell peppers and began slicing it into strips. I quickly fell into the work, slicing bell pepper after bell pepper like some sort of machine. I loved how sharp the knives were, and how easily they cut through the peppers.

Agni inspected a pot of boiling potatoes on the fire with a prong. Every so often, he reached for one of the peppers or onions and tossed it into the frying pan. While we were working, the back door cracked open and Finny poked his head inside. "What's for dinner?" He asked, practically salivating. "It smells delicious!"

"Young man, you came at just the right time!" Agni smiled at him. "Could you assist us in preparing tonight's dinner?"

"Really, me?" Finny looked ecstatic. Apparently he was also another person Sebastian had denied kitchen rights to. He suddenly frowned. "But I'm strong and clumsy, so Sebastian says I should stay away from the kitchenware." _No, my baby! Don't look sad!_

"If you are strong then that is a good thing," Agni said. "We're supposed to strain the potatoes after crushing them, but it is quite a demanding task. Can you help us?"

Finny beamed. "I can do that!" He cheered. "Let me do that, please!" I smiled and shifted my work so that Finny could work beside me. He handled the strainer so delicately, and seemed so focused and so _happy _to be doing something so menial.

It suddenly struck me, as we worked together in the kitchen, side by side, that _this_ was the fundamental difference between Sebastian and Agni (apart from, you know, one of them being a demon and stuff). Sebastian believed that he could do everything himself, screw the world and everyone in it. And, indeed, he could do many things by himself.

Agni, on the other hand, in the space of a few minutes, had managed to fill the kitchen with a sense of communal wellbeing. He had also made everyone feel better about themselves and their own talents.

Plus, he had let Bard cook and the kitchen hadn't blown up yet.

Also,I think Mey-Rin had developed a minor crush on him.

I stopped thinking about these things, went back to chopping up the peppers alongside Mey-Rin, who was peeling the carrots. At that moment, Sebastian returned. "How are things progressing, Mr. Agni?" He called out as he walked into the kitchen, probably expecting chaos or scorch marks. The look of shock on his face was enough to make me giggle.

Agni covered the pot and turned to smile at Sebastian happily. "Thanks to everyone's help, it looks like dinner will be delicious." I couldn't help feeling a bit like a traitor for liking Agni just a _tiny_ bit more than I liked Sebastian. I mean, Agni had never whacked me upside the head for anything. He was also much nicer than Sebastian.

_But wasn't Sebastian the one who hugged you to nights ago? Who embraced you and gave you warmth, and he didn't tease you about it the next morning?_

True. I felt the thing at the back of my neck begin to burn slightly, like a slight irritation, like a rash, but when I reached up to scratch it I couldn't feel anything. I noticed Sebastian watching me, and I looked away quickly. "You are amazing to have got that lot to help you," he commented as he began to cut the fish.

'_That lot'? Well thanks a bunch, Sebastian. _I frowned and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Everyone is born with their own talent," Agni explained sagely. "They have a duty and a path laid out by the gods, and we must abide by that and do what we can." _Do you even know who you're talking too?_ I dropped the last of the vegetables into the bowl and wiped my hands on the front of my apron. I scratched the back of my neck again and frowned. _Is something going on with that mark? _I frowned and bit my bottom lip worriedly.

Although I wasn't entirely freaked out about whatever was on my neck, it still bothered me a bit. I suddenly wanted to know what it was. I turned to Mey-Rin. "Hey, Mey-Rin, are you done?" I asked her.

"Yes," she nodded, washing the last of the newly peeled carrots and placing them in the bowl. She turned to me curiously. "Did you want something, Thalia?"

I nodded and motioned for her to follow me out into the corridor. "Um, could you check something for me?" I presented my back to her and pulled my braid out of the way. "My neck itches, and I wanted to know if I had a rash or something there."

"Okay." I felt her hands on my shoulders and a light breath on the back of my neck. "Oh…"

"What, what is it?" I wished I could see what was on my neck. "Is it bad?"

"Um…I'm not sure," Mey-Rin replied. "It looks like a large birthmark or a tattoo, since it's very defined. Maybe it's a scar?" I shook my head. I think I would remember getting a cut on the back of my neck, and I had never gotten a tattoo before. "At any rate," she released me and let my braid fall back. "It doesn't look bad."

I nodded. "One last question," I twirled around to face her. "What does it look like?"

Mey-Rin blinked. "Um…it kind of looks like an M, or a bird."

* * *

oOo

* * *

I watched Sebastian as he packed away the starter and placed the main course on the table. My eyes were half narrowed. _An M, or a bird huh?_ I frowned as I stared at him. _That sounds really strange, but his reaction that day…_ I remembered the way he had frozen behind me, as though he had seen something shocking.

And then that puppet man had said that my soul had an essence of purity, but it was being defiled by the mark on my body. the thing on my neck was obviously the mark, but nothing else he said made any sense to me. A sigh blew its way out of my lips.

Ciel sliced into his fish and glared at Prince Soma across from him. "How long do the two of you plan on staying anyway?"

Soma smiled and swallowed his bite of food. "Once we have concluded our business, we will leave." I turned to him curiously.

"Oh yeah," Lau smiled across the table affably. "You said you were looking for someone, didn't you?" I stared at the Chinese man blankly. _Why the hell are you still here anyway? Do you not have a house?_

Ciel clearly also felt the same way. "And why are you still here?" He snapped at Lau.

"Really, I wonder," he went back to eating cheerily. He was the only person at the table that didn't even know why he was there. _Maybe he's here for the free food,_ I thought. _I wouldn't blame him. Sebastian's food is really good._

Soma sobered at Lau's earlier words. "I'm looking for someone," he pulled out a paper and unfolded it. I identified it as the childish drawing of a woman from the day before. "Her name is Meena," he explained. "She was a servant at my castle."

"Sebastian," Ciel signalled to the black-clad butler. "Would you be able to look for her with that?"

I kept my face completely neutral and blank, otherwise I would have scoffed or laughed. _I doubt it. The picture shows absolutely no defining features of the woman in question. It would be difficult to find her with just that_.

I watched Sebastian lean closer to get a better look at the picture in question. "Even for me, that would be…" he caught himself. "I will do my best."

Ciel stabbed a piece of meat with his fork. "So why is this woman in England anyway?"

"Meena was my personal assistant," Prince Soma said. "She was like a wet nurse to me. I have been with her for as long as I can remember. My father and mother didn't pay much attention to me, and I was always alone in the castle…" I felt the first stirrings of pity and empathy in my heart for the prince. So he too knew pain. "But Meena was always by side. However, there was an Englishman who also had his eye on her. He abducted her when I was away from the castle."

Ciel didn't seem impressed by this sad tale. "So you came to England to get a woman back?" He asked. Soma nodded firmly. Ciel sighed and went back to cutting up his food. "Seems like an extravagant trip for one servant."

"_It's not extravagant!_" He suddenly rose from his chair and grabbed Ciel by the arms. "Do you not understand my despair at having Meena taken away from me?" He yelled. "Do you not know-!"

"No, I don't," Ciel cut him off coldly. I stopped in my tracks. When had I moved? "I have no idea, nor do I desire to know, of the despair of something as trivial as that." In that moment, I knew that Ciel had experienced a greater tragedy than that. So had I. Soma had not.

Yet, to him, Meena was his tragedy. But at least he could get her back. I suddenly felt a jab of pain in my chest and I had to lower my head to get myself under control. _Mother, mother…_

I heard a slapping sound, and then footsteps. "There are some things that you can never get back, no matter how hard you struggle. There is also a despair that you can never escape, but you may not understand that though."

Tears formed a clear sheen over my eyes. I heard the door of the room open and shut, and then Soma spoke. "Even so," he sounded close to tears himself. "I have still had enough of being alone in that palace."

_And I have had enough of being on my own,_ I blinked quickly to dispel any lingering tears, and then I began to clean up the table. "Excuse me," I curtsied to Soma and disappeared into the kitchen. _Don't cry,_ I warned myself. _Don't you _dare_ cry!_ I ran a hand over my face quickly, and then I leaned against the counter. I squeezed my eyes shut to hold back the tears, and memories began to play through my head like a movie reel.

Me playing in the streets with the other urchins.

Me hiding in the dark attic while music and voices rose in crescendo downstairs.

Me standing in front of my mother with a knife in hand as a shadow fell over us.

Me standing beside the doctor as he snapped his briefcase shut and shook his head.

Me crying over her pillow.

Me running through the night while voices raged behind me.

_Me…_

It had been just me for a very long time. It had been just me for as long as I could remember. I wiped my face with my sleeve. "My, my…" A shadow fell over me. "You do look a mess when you cry." I blinked as a white-gloved hand brushed against my wet cheek. The tears stilled on my cheeks as I stared up at Sebastian. "Let me assist you…"

I think it was a testament to how stunned I was that I didn't kick him where the sun didn't shine. Instead, I froze as his face got closer to mine. I felt his lips touched my cheek, and I stiffened even more at the gentle touch. I didn't know he could be gentle. His hands cupped my face with tenderness I had not expected to feel from another person, certainly not a demon.

Something warm and slick brushed against my skin: his tongue. He was licking up the tears.

_The hell? _I suddenly regained use of my primary motor skills. I yelped and shoved him away and began furiously scrubbing at the cheek that he had licked with my sleeve. He stepped backwards, licking his lips with a wolfish smile. "Mmm, delicious."

"Why did you do that?!" I yelled at him. I was sure that my face was beyond red. "You're a very creepy person, you know that?"

"I am glad to see that you are no longer crying," Sebastian smiled down at me. I puffed out my cheeks in an annoyed pout. He was right though. "So," he came to stand beside me. "Care to tell me what caused this?"

For a moment, I didn't say anything. "I was just thinking of the past," I finally confessed. "Why do you care though?" I asked quietly, staring at nothing at all. "Do you even care at all?" He was a demon. Could he feel anything except a hunger for souls? Even if he could, did he even care about anything a human would feel?

"I do care." I jumped and turned to stare at him in shock. He smirked back at me. "Demons can feel, you know," he pointed out. "We can love as well."

Why did he tell me that? His eyes never left mine, and he wasn't smiling at all. I stared up at him silently, and then I smiled and nodded. I could wonder about that later, and he had answered my question.

_And he does seem to care about how I feel. _I suddenly flashed back to the night he had held me, the way he had embraced me, the way his body had felt against mine. I suddenly wished my hair wasn't braided up because I could have used it to hide my blushing face behind. Sebastian suddenly leaned forward and touched my cheek. "As much as I would love to stay here," he glanced at the window. It was dark, and snowing heavily outside. "I must be going. One of our guests is on the move."

I blinked as I watched him open the back door, and then I shivered as a gust of cold wind blew into the kitchen. Sebastian didn't even flinch at the sudden drop in temperature. He gave me one last smirk, before flipping himself onto the roof of the house.

For some reason, the only word that came to me at that moment was _show-off._

**A kind-of fluffy ThaliaxSebastian moment there folks! I have not seen many fluffy Sebastian moments around, especially with OC-based stories, and I thought it would be kind of cute to write one. I saw one in **_**A Demon's Happy Ending**_** though, and I thought that the whole mistletoe trick was cute! I can't wait to do my own kiss scene with these two!**


	16. Royal Warrants

**I own nothing whatsoever, other than Thalia and the plot I am currently churning out because I can't keep up with my brain! Thanks for all your reviews! I've decided to add the Circus Ark, and I've already pretty much found a way to link it to Thalia so it all flows pretty well!**

**Royal Warrants**

I made my way to the room where Lau and Ciel were playing a game with cards. For some reason, I felt like I needed to be around Ciel. And, for some reason, he never sent me away or made me feel like I wasn't supposed to be there. He treated me…kind of like he treated Sebastian, only much nicer and with less orders.

Lau looked up when I walked into the room. "Oh, Miss. Maid," he smiled cheerily at me. "Where is your companion, the butler?"

I shrugged and went to stand behind Ciel's chair. "I don't know," I said. "On the roof, most likely. He said something about one of our guests being on the move." Ciel arched an eyebrow, and then he sighed and tossed down his hand of cards. Lau placed his cards down as well, and then he gathered up the card and began to shuffle them again. _I wonder if Ciel knows how to play poker._

It never occurred to me that I shouldn't have wanted to teach a twelve year old a card game meant for gamblers, since I was already playing and betting by the time I was his age.

At that moment, Sebastian's upside-down face appeared in the window. I nearly shrieked, but then I remembered that stranger things had occurred, and would most likely continue to for as long as I was with them. "Young master, he has left the house," he reported.

"Very well," Ciel got to his feet. "Follow–!"

"Take me with you!" We spun around, surprised by the exclamation. Prince Soma was standing in the doorway. I briefly wondered why he didn't seem the _tiniest_ bit surprised at the fact that there was a grown man hanging upside down outside the window. "I know Agni has been sneaking out after I fall asleep. I want to find out what he's doing!"

Ciel stared at him silently for a few seconds, before sighing. "Ugh, fine. You may come along. Just try not to get in the way." Soma frowned, but he nodded firmly. In a few moments, I had grabbed Ciel's winter coat, and mine. It was dark, and probably really cold outside. I was not looking forward to leaving the warmth of the house.

_Ah well_, I wrapped the thick fabric around myself and did the clips in the front. _I can suck it up_. It wasn't like I hadn't been out in colder weather. I buttoned up Ciel's coat as quickly as I could, and then we were off.

It wasn't as cold as I had expected it to be, in spite of the snow. Or, at least, it could have been much colder anyway. We trailed Agni carefully as he wandered through the streets, apparently focused on wherever he was going. He didn't take any shortcuts or anything. Either he didn't know about them, or he didn't care. I suddenly wanted to rip my skirt and run along the rooftops and walls like I had before.

"Hey, Ciel," I nudged the boy beside me. He slid a glance my way. "Can I trail Agni from the roofs?"

He blinked up at me, and then he frowned. "Are you sure you can follow him without giving yourself away?" He arched an eyebrow dubiously. I nodded eagerly. It was a simple matter of crouching and hiding in the shadows. Besides, Agni was clearly too into his thoughts to even consider that he was being followed. "Fine then."

I beamed down at Ciel, saluted cheekily at Sebastian, and then ran to one of the alleys. I latched onto the wall, finding footholds and crevices where there didn't seem to be any, and quickly vaulted myself onto the roof of one of the houses. A feeling of sharp, exhilarated adrenaline snapped through my body.

Just before I launched myself to the next roof, I overheard Lau say something. "She is rather spirited, isn't she?"

_You have no idea, _I smirked and darted off. Agni moved rather quickly, and the whole thing felt somewhat like a game to me. I scrambled along roofs, slid along walls, and crouched behind chimneys. The skirt felt a bit strange around my legs but, apart from that, I felt amazing.

Agni turned into a more affluent neighbourhood filled with large houses and lights. He paused outside one of the gates and peered left and right. He never once looked up, but I still crouched down on all fours into the shadow of the low roof I was balanced on.

Satisfied that no one was watching him, he knocked on the gate and quickly slipped into the compound. Once I was sure he was gone, I stood up. I spotted Sebastian and the others a few metres away, behind the wall of the neighbouring house. I scurried down from the roof to land on the wall just above them.

When I was almost right over them, I overheard a Lau speak. "Do you think the pretty little maid got lost?" He wondered. I twitched at being referred to in such a way by _him_ of all people. Ciel scoffed at him, but he didn't seem convinced of his own scorn. I pouted and sighed. _Oh Ciel, have more faith in me. I survived on these streets for nearly five years._

I jumped down from the wall, feeling pleased with the startled looks on their faces. "For your information," I hissed quietly at them. "I didn't get lost." Ciel looked surprised by my sudden appearance, as did Prince Soma and Lau, although the latter regarded me like I was the rabbit a magician had pulled out of his hat. I smiled at Ciel. "I told you I could do this."

He made a huffing sound, and then reached out to tug at my skirt. "You've also managed to tear your uniform," he noted dryly. There was a rather thin, long rip at the side of my skirt. "Well done, either way. I suppose you are rather useful as more than a simple maid." I wasn't sure whether to feel insulted or happy with his words, so I just shrugged and smiled a half-smile.

Lau turned back to the large mansion. "Whose residence is this?" He quizzed.

"A man who imports all the Indian goods he can get his hands on," Ciel replied. "His name is Harold West-Jebb. His business is in coffee houses and emporiums. I met him once," Ciel concluded. "He is nothing more than a detestable rogue."

I frowned at the house as Sebastian spoke up. "Some coffee houses were caught up in the inverted hanging incidents," he said. "However, no harm befell Mr. West as he was coincidentally away that day."

"Coincidentally?" Lau smiled.

I scoffed. "Coincidentally my foot," I snapped (I had to watch my swearing around Ciel). _He's the one behind all these hangings, isn't he? Is Agni working for him willingly, or is he being forced?_ I hoped to god that it was the latter. I quite liked Agni.

Ciel inclined his head towards the butler. "Shall we take a look, then?"

"Understood," Sebastian bowed. He swiftly grabbed Ciel around the waist and leaped over the wall, leaving the rest of us behind on the other side. _Hey, don't just leave us out here! _I scowled and half-scurried, half-vaulted over the wall within a matter of seconds. _Oh yeah, _I realised when my feet hit the snow on the other side, _Lau and Soma are still there…_ I considered the consequences of leaving them versus helping the two of them over. _Ugh, fine… _I groaned and opted to help them over. If nothing else, at least I'd accumulate some great karma points.

It took a lot of huffing, and puffing, and heaving, but finally, the two men were inside the compound. We caught up with Ciel and Sebastian, and slipped into the house via the back door. We made our way through the house like a bunch of highly shady individuals, which we were, and eventually found the room whish held Agni and this West person.

The door opened a crack and we peered in to hear West say something. "How about relaxing with a glass of Scotch?" He offered. "It's a high quality Scotch I bought from Justin and Brookes, who hold a Royal warrant."

Agni didn't move to take the proffered glass, or to acknowledge West in the least. He just sat in the room like a statue, staring at something or nothing in a fixed point.

The man didn't seem put out by this at all. He shrugged and began to down his own glass. "The plan up until now has been perfect," he laughed. "Well done Agni," he walked around the couch to stand in front of Agni. I caught a glimpse of his face now. Maybe it was the shadows, or just him, but he looked positively evil. "You don't have to cause anymore accident. I've rid myself of my main rivals now."

He was holding a newspaper, which he tossed onto the seat beside Agni with a pleased smirk. I felt sick. So Sebastian had been right about Agni. He was the one behind the hangings. Still, something didn't quite add up. Why would he be doing this behind Soma's back? The prince was a spoiled brat, but Agni seemed to be the only one who genuinely cared for him.

_Unless it was all an act. _But I doubted that. I flinched for Agni as West suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Agni's bandaged hand. "With your 'Right Hand of God', the Royal warrant is as good as mine." He looked even more evil now, and I suddenly wanted to jump in and slap his hand away from Agni.

"Royal warrant?" Ciel murmured beside me. "Ah, so that's what this is about."

Agni pulled away from West and bowed his head. "If I can complete this task," he began hesitantly. "Can Meena..." _Meena?_

Prince Soma jerked at the mention of the name, and I didn't have enough time to grab him before he shoved the door open and flew into the room. "Meena?" He yelled at the men. "You know where Meena is?"

Agni leaped to his feet, looking both shocked and pained. "Prince!"

"Ah crap," I hissed, and then I reached forward and yanked Ciel backwards into my arms and into the shadows at the side of the door. "Nope, no way. You stay _here_," I whispered to him. "There's already too much drama going on in there already. You would just get in the way."

Sebastian nodded, clapping a hand over Ciel's mouth. "Besides, our faces are well known. We should just sit back and watch the events as they unfold."

Some flew at Agni and grabbed his collar. "Agni, you knew where Meena was?" He repeated, looking angry enough to shake the other man. I could see the look on Agni's face. It was clear that he was terrified of his Master's anger, and not because Soma was stronger than him, but because he clearly loved and idolized the young man. For his Prince to be angry with him was like his world ending.

My gaze swept to the right as West arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Ah, so that's your master?"

Soma stopped glaring at Agni and turned his anger on the blonde man. "You're the one who took Meena, aren't you?" He snarled. "Agni, rough this man up!" He ordered.

A second passed. Another, and then another. My gaze slipped back to Agni. The man stood still, physically shaking with the effort to not do what Soma wanted him to. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead and his teeth were gritted. He looked like he was in pain. What was holding him back?

Soma blinked, confused and mildly concerned. "Agni, what's wrong?" He stared at the taller man.

Ciel sighed, evidently bored with the events going on inside the room. "Well, for now, let's get Prince Stupid out of here."

"But they know your identities," Lau pointed out.

I shrugged. "Well, West doesn't really know _me_," I pointed out. "I'm still a nonentity. He's probably seen Sebastian with Ciel before though."

Sebastian smirked and placed his hand to his chest. "Leave it to me. Thalia?" I straightened and turned to him with a hand on my hip. Sebastian gestured to the corridor we had just come down. "Could you fetch me one of those stuffed heads in the hallway?"

Twenty seconds later, I was trying not to laugh as Sebastian stared at me from underneath the head of a deer. I had pulled up my cloak to cover the lower part of my face, and pulled up the hood to hide the unique colour of my hair.

"Agni," West was smirking when we peered into the room again. "Strike this _prince_ and make him shut up!" My eyes widened in shock as Agni began to tremble even more violently. His fists clenched and he shut his eyes like he could block everything out. "Agni!"

Suddenly, he broke. Agni raised his arm, eyes wide and unseeing, mouth pulled back into an angry shout. His right arm lifted, poised to strike against the very man he had sworn to protect. The look on Soma's face was one of acute shock.

That was when two things happened. One, Sebastian jumped into the room with his deer mask and blocked Agni's arm as it came down. As he did that, I ran into the room and hefted Soma out of the way. He blinked at me. "Thalia?" He tilted his head to look behind me. "Why does the butler have a deer mask on?"

I sweatdropped and sighed. "It's a long story." He wasn't the only one that was confused. Both Agni and West seemed to have momentarily forgotten about attacking Soma and were staring, transfixed, at the strange half-deer, half-man that had appeared in the middle of the room.

"What the heck!?" West screamed. "Is this guy the abominable deer man or something?" _Let's just go with 'or something'_. "And who is that?" He turned to stare at me. "The accomplice?"

I nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, let's also just go with that."

Sebastian bowed politely. "I am Deer," he introduced himself. "I'm here to pick up the Prince." I coughed to hide my barely repressed snickers.

"Agni, they might be enemy spies!" West yelled.

"Spies?" I blinked and looked at Soma blankly. "No, we're just here to pick up our prince. He got out of the house again," I patted Soma on the shoulder a bit harder than necessary because I was still kind of pissed off at him. He winced with every pat.

Sebastian raised a hand. "I'm simply just one hell of a deer." I bit my bottom lip underneath my cloak. _Hold it in, _I warned myself. _Hold in the laughter. Wait until you're home and then you can let it all out._

At any rate, West didn't seem to care too much for me or Sebastian in his deer mask. "Agni, kill them!" Agni froze at that command, and West snarled at him. "Do you want that promise to go up in smoke?" _Promise?_ I stared at Agni. _What promise?_

He began to shake, fists clenched, eyes shut, and then he suddenly fell to his knees. He was crying, but the tears were dark against his skin. I realised, with a sickened jolt, that those were tears of blood. The effort it was taking him to not obey Soma, to go _against_ Soma, was literally killing him. I had never seen such actual devotion in my life.

"I have only one god and master," he ground out the words on pained sobs. "And I decided I would not swing my fists for anyone but him. My prince," his eyes suddenly snapped open. "Please forgive me for the sins I am about to commit against you!" He suddenly ripped off the bandages on his right hand and dashed at us, eyes wide and pupiless.

"Oh dear," I grabbed Soma, relying now on my speed and strength. "I believe it's time for us to leave." I leaped out of the way with Soma as Sebastian diverted the blows away from us. I heard a lot of yelling, and a lot of glass shattering. I hoped we did some good damage to this guy's room before we left.

I suddenly heard Ciel's voice. "Oi, you two!" He called out. "This uproar will draw attention. Grab the kid and let's go!" _Kid? Oh, you mean Soma!_ He is older than you are though.

Sebastian nodded. "Understood." I nodded as well and dashed to the window. We were somewhere on the first floor, not too far from the ground.

Wood splintered in the room, and I turned to see Sebastian was still fending off a glowing-blue-aura-d Agni. Making a quick decision, I took a few steps backwards and wrapped an arm around Soma's waist. "Uh, I've never done this before, so you might wanna close your eyes." I didn't wait for him to voice out his fears, and instead leaped at the glass, curling my body to increase impact and protect my face from the shards.

I wasn't lying about having never done something like that. From the time I was fourteen and I had escaped from that prison, I had always been stronger than the people around me, and much faster. However, I cannot explain anything at the moment. Certainly not at this moment, when I'm describing what it felt like to jump out of a first floor window.

Anyway, for a moment, everything around me froze, and I could see the snowflakes and the angles on the glass shards around us. And then, the moment was gone, and I was falling feet first to the ground. Luckily, it had been snowing rather heavily, and the layer of snow on the ground softened the impact. I let my knees fold as I hit the ground in so that the shock would travel up and out of my body, and not cause me to break my ankles.

I got my feet shakily and made my way towards Ciel and Lau. _Oh my god, I just jumped out a first floor window! _The realisation of what I'd done was beginning to hit me. For a moment, I felt adrenaline-based euphoria, and then it _really_ hit me. _HOLY CRAP I JUST JUMPED OUT OF A FIRST FLOOR WINDOW WITH A MAN ON MY SHOULDER WHAT THE ACTUAL FRICK AM I NUTS? _

A second later, Sebastian landed beside me, and he caught me in the middle of my breakdown. "Thalia?"

"Huh?" I blinked several times and looked up at him. "Yeah, what is it?" At least he had taken of the deer head mask now.

Sebastian pointed to the prince on my shoulder. "I believe the prince has fainted."

**Yes, Thalia is strong. No, this isn't just something I threw in there for the purpose of making her seem Mary Sue-ish or just somewhat useful. I'd always wanted her to be strong, and I have a good reason. There is a reason I haven't divulged her full backstory yet, because it is going to be epic, and it will tie to many things okay?**

**Please review if you can!**


	17. How to Traumatize Your Prince

**This chapter is going to have a bit of Thalia-history in it (finally!). And thank you for all the nice reviews! You guys are so awesome and your reviews make me wanna write and update!**

**I own nothing except Thalia and her traumatic past.**

**How to Traumatize Your Prince**

Soma was still unconscious by the time we returned to the mansion, but he was beginning to come round. I, on the other hand, was being regarded by both Ciel and Sebastian as though I was some sort of test subject that had done something incredibly fascinating and now needed to be dissected so they could find out exactly _how_. I had decided that the best thing to do was not look at either of them, since I was sure to get grilled about it later.

Ciel was curious about me, my backstory, where I had come from. I got the feeling that he was allowing me some rare privilege by not grilling me over a Sebastian-hot-coal fire and forcing me to spill my guts out onto the expensive carpet, but I knew it wouldn't last. He wanted to know, and I kind of owed it to him didn't I?

How I had become like this, the six months that had changed me both inside and out, were not memories I was particularly fond of. _But maybe telling someone would help me reconcile with it, _I thought. _I could tell Ciel, since I'm almost certain we went through the same thing._ The young earl clearly hadn't been through the exact same process I had though.

Soma, Ciel and Lau were in the main room. I was hanging around in a shadowy corner of the hallway outside the kitchen, suddenly unsure of what to do with myself. The euphoria of my actions had fled, replaced by mind numbing be anxiety.

I heard the sound of footsteps coming closer, and then a pair of polished black shoes and black-clad legs appeared in my field of vision. Sebastian paused in front of me. "I suppose you already know what I'm going to ask, don't you?" I nodded quietly, too absorbed in my thoughts and emotions to answer properly. "Will you answer them?"

My shoulders lifted up in a shrug. "I guess. You're the only one here, anyway."

Sebastian was really not my idea of an ideal confidant. He was definitely not the first person I would have chosen to willingly spill my guts to, but the least he could do was sit there and let me talk.

I followed him into the kitchen and hefted myself up onto one of the counters while he busied himself with preparations for a late night snack. "Where to start..." I hummed lightly as Sebastian began to boil water to make tea.

He turned to me briefly, holding the tin of tea in one hand. "The beginning is usually a good place to begin," he pointed out dryly.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I'll start from when I want to start, which is somewhere in the middle," I crossed one leg over the other and stared at the ceiling. "It was some time in February...

The memories rushed back. I had only just turned thirteen. My mother had just died a few weeks ago, and I'd had to run away to avoid…well, to avoid the more unfortunate things that had been waiting for me.

I rubbed the ring through my shirt and let myself slip back into the past. "One day, a woman found me sleeping in an alleyway and she offered to adopt me. She seemed very nice and sweet, and definitely she had to be some sort of saint to want someone like _me_." Sebastian chuckled lightly. I managed a tiny smile, which quickly disappeared. "In the carriage, she offered me a drink that put me to sleep. When I woke up, I was in a steel cage, and there were people wearing strange masks standing around me."

The memories began to get darker, blacker, redder, more strewn with blood. I could feel myself losing touch with the present as I began to sink back into the _then_.

"They cut me, branded me. Sometimes, they would dunk me into vats of some sort of liquid and tell me that I shouldn't fight it. They told me that what they were doing would purify my soul. Instead, they showed me a hell that I can never forget."

_Fire. Blood. Red. White. Skin. Black, featureless eyes behind red and white masks._

"I was locked away for six months. A few days after my fourteenth birthday, they took me out of the cage and chained me down on an altar," I remembered the shape carved into the ceiling, the stained glass windows above me, feel of cold granite against my back and heavy iron around my wrists. "One of them forced me to drink a chalice of something." I remembered the thick, bitter, coppery taste of the drink. "It _burned_."

The pain had struck immediately, a horrible, sulphur-and-brimstone heat that had spread throughout my body like a wildfire. I remember screaming, and the sound of others screaming, and a great light, and then darkness.

I blinked as I came back to the present. "When I came to, everyone around me was dead. The chains holding me were broken, almost like they had been torn out. Most likely by me. My hair was also this way," I ran a hand over my braid with a sad sort of smile. Sebastian was staring at me with wide eyes. "So," I shrugged. "There you go. Now you know my history. I hope this has alleviated your curiousity somewhat."

**No One's POV**

Sebastian stared at the girl, no, the woman in front of him. Not because he recognised her experience as being the same as the young master's, although that was sure to be of interest to Ciel, but because he knew _exactly_ what those people had been trying to do to her.

Her hair was a hint, as was what that puppet had said in the tower, but now that he had her tale, he was certain of his theory. He couldn't help the pleased smirk that curved his lips, and he had to turn away to hide it. He also knew _exactly _why they had failed in their experiment.

She was strong, he thought. She had to be, to have survived that and come out alive and unchanged. Her eyes were sad and distant, but there was a hard determination in them. Still, he couldn't help the sudden surge of fury that rolled over him as he thought of how painfully she had been abused. She still hadn't told him where the scar on her arm had come from, but he refrained from asking. He sensed that she was still a bit vulnerable, and to make her slip back into a painful memory after just coming out of one would be cruel.

_But I am a demon,_ the thought alighted in his head. _Isn't it in my nature to be sadistic?_ But he didn't want to take pleasure in her pain. Unless, of course, it was to give her pleasure so intense that it hurt in the most delicious of ways.

Sebastian exhaled quietly and tried not to let his eyes slip back into their demonic form. It would not do to think of such things now, especially when the woman in question was right behind him, and the young master was expecting his tea. "Thalia…" She snapped to attention and stared at him out of dark, garnet-red eyes. He held out the tray on which was a small plate filled with small biscuits. "Could you carry this for me?"

She nodded quickly. Her braid fell over her shoulder as she hopped down from the table and took the tray from him. When she turned to leave the kitchen, he focused on the dark tattoo-like mark that snaked across the skin on the back of her neck.

His mark.

His mate.

His eyes glowed with energy as they exited the kitchen.

oOo

You know, I think talking to Sebastian actually helped. I had never told anyone that story before. telling him somehow made it more real, and less like a private nightmare. I smiled to myself as we made our way to the parlour.

Soma was fully awake by the time we entered the room, and he also seemed to have recovered a bit from the shock of Agni's betrayal. He did jerk slightly when I came into the room, and then proceeded to give me a confused onceover. I placed the plate of biscuits on the table, a little closer to Ciel than everyone else since he was the host, and he liked sweet things. He turned his head to regard me quietly, and I smiled back before retreating.

"He far surpassed the scope of a human back there," Lau commented over his tea.

Soma stopped staring at me, and leaned back in his chair. "That was the concentration technique known as _samadhi_," he explained dolefully. "Once he gets like that, no one can touch him."

"_Samadhi_?" Ciel repeated curiously.

"It's a type of trance state," Sebastian said. "Through pure devotion to a master, such as Prince Soma, people are able to bring forth great amounts of power. It is something we lack, since it is born of total faith, pure love and complete trust in one's master."

_Of course you'd know about this, wouldn't you?_ I turned back to the prince. "Then why would he betray me?" Soma ground out. "Why does everyone around me disappear?" He suddenly pounded the table with his fists and then, in a fit of childish temper, swept the whole china tea set off the table.

"Hey!" Ciel yelled. I scowled angrily. _You're upset, that's understandable, but try not to break shit that isn't yours just because you're having a temper tantrum!_ I quickly grabbed a broom and dustpan from the kitchen and swept the shattered pieces of china out of the way and into the dustpan. The spilled milk and sugar would have to wait though.

Soma wasn't listening. He was too wrapped up in his own private grief to care about anything else. "Why is it?" He clenched his eyes shut to hold back tears. "Why?" I took a step out of the way as he suddenly rushed from the room and slammed the door behind himself.

Sebastian looked over at the bits of broken tea set in the dustpan. "Oh dear," he exhaled a disappointed breath of air. "I brought out that Haviland tea set because I thought it suited you so well, young master," he suddenly smiled coldly. "It may be a good idea for him to be…_re-disciplined._"

A matching smile curved Ciel's lips. I sweatdropped slightly at them. "Why did that come out sounding so very, very evil?" I placed my hands on my hips and stared at the man in front of me.

He stared back at me innocently. "I have no idea what you mean, Thalia," he said. "I am only acting in the best possibly way for my young master."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you say," I arched an eyebrow at him. "Nothing too traumatizing, right? We want him _scared_, not practically comatose."

Sebastian smirked at me, and bowed. "Have some faith in me, Thalia. What kind of butler would I be if I could not even do this?" As always, that question had the same answer: _an ordinary one._ But then Sebastian was anything but ordinary. "Now, shouldn't you be cleaning that up?" He pointed to the spilled milk and sugar on the carpet.

I scowled and left the room to grab a rag, a sponge, and a bowl of soapy water from the kitchen. This was going to take a lot of soap, patience and elbow-grease.

oOo

Before heading upstairs to perform his task of re-disciplining Prince Soma, Sebastian had asked me if there was anything I wanted to say to the young prince. I said no, because I had a feeling Sebastian and Ciel would be enough to decimate any trace of pride and happiness he had left, so my presence wasn't necessary anyway.

They left me scrubbing away in the parlour. Sometime later, approximately twenty-five minutes later, I heard the door of Prince Soma's room open. They had given him time to hide upstairs, enough time to curl up under his covers (presumably that was what he was doing at the moment), before Sebastian came and ripped his makeshift sanctuary away.

Curiousity took hold of me, and I made my way up the stairs and into the hallway where Soma's room was. I could hear Sebastian speaking to him in a low, mocking tone of voice.

"_Lost?_" His voice was cold and derisive. "_You haven't lost anything. You never had it in the first place. Status given to you by your parents, a castle given to you by your parents, servants, wealth_," he listed them out. "_All of it was handed to you by your parents. From the very beginning, you have never had a single thing that was yours. Isn't that right?_"

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall. These were hard truths, but they were truths that he needed to hear. Soma didn't know what it was like to struggle, to fight tooth and nail to survive. He didn't know what it was like to truly _own_ something, to have fought for something. Agni had always been the one to do that for him.

"_They said they would always be there for me,_" his response was pained.

I listened to Sebastian's laugh through the wall. "_Obviously that was simply lip-service,_" he said. "_No one works for another without expecting something in return. Even in the slums, a three-year-old can tell you that. No one has ever loved you._"

Now _that_ was just cruel. Agni had loved Soma. Even when he had attacked us, I saw how broken he was inside. To go against Soma had fractured something inside him.

I heard footsteps, and Ciel appeared in front of me. "Oh?" He smirked up at me. "Were you eavesdropping?" I nodded. Ladies weren't supposed to eavesdrop, but I was not a lady so I didn't feel bad. Ciel clicked his tongue and pushed the door of the room open. "Let's leave it at that, Sebastian."

Sebastian blinked, surprised by Ciel's appearance. "Young master?" And then he spotted me in the corner.

Ciel leaned against the doorframe. "I might have become like him as well," he mused, more to himself than to anyone else. "If not for that month." I turned to Ciel enquiringly.

So did Soma. "What month?" He asked.

"I was forced to taste the humiliation of having my house burned, my family killed, and being treated as less than a barn animal," his lips twisted in a harsh smirk. "I was a powerless child, much like you are now. But I returned here in order to bestow the same pain and shame upon those who tortured me."

As he continued to speak, I could only stare at Ciel with a mix of awe and sadness. I suddenly felt like I had a link with Ciel, a quiet bond between us that he was currently unaware of. I wanted to reach out and smooth his fingers out from his tightly clenched first, but I knew what it symbolised.

Pride. Determination. Dignity. Rage.

"Even if I am flung into the depths of despair, if there is even a spider's thread that I can use to climb out, I will grab hold of it and never give up," Ciel stared at Soma hard. "We humans have the strength to do that. However," he shrugged and folded his arms. "Whether to do so or not up to each person. Now," he suddenly straightened and turned to leave the room. "Enough with this pointless babble. Sebastian, Thalia, I have something I need to discuss with the two of you. Come."

_I'm just realising this,_ I thought as I stared at the back of Ciel's head. _But Ciel is actually very wise for his age, isn't he?_ I suppose there are certain events that we all go through that change us and shape who we are.

We hadn't taken but a few steps down the corridor when we heard Soma come out of his room. "Ciel!" We stopped. Ciel inclined his head slightly to indicate that he was listening. "You are right," Soma said. "I am almost 17, but I am totally naïve and idiotic compared to you!"

"At least he knows that now," I murmured under my breath. Sebastian glanced at me amusedly.

"I have been spoiled all my life because of who my parents are," the prince continued. "Even though I knew Agni was troubled, I didn't hear him out. But now I want to see them both and found out why they left me! So please, will you come with me-!"

"I refuse." I fought the urge to snicker at Ciel's reply. Refusal at point-blank range. "There's no way I'm dragging around the weight of a naïve idiot like you around. Though," he turned to leave. "I suppose the door to the living room isn't locked."

Soma stared, as though working out what Ciel was implying, and then he beamed and glomped the kid. "Ciel!"

"_Gack!_"

He stepped backwards and clasped his hands together in a sign of penitence. "I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier," he apologised genuinely. I folded my arms across my chest when he turned to me. "I never thanked you for saving me earlier," he said humbly. "I'm truly sorry I caused you extra work with my outburst."

"That's okay," I smiled and waved a hand to show that it was alright. "I'm used to having to clean up after Bard and Mey-Rin."

He returned my smile, and then turned to Sebastian. He then paled, and quickly jumped behind me to put distance between him and the demon. Yeah, like _I _was adequate protection. "Um, I want to say sorry to you as well…" The poor kid was shaking. How badly had Sebastian traumatized him anyway?

Sebastian smirked, clearly pleased with the outcome of his _re-discipline_. "It's fine," he said with a smile. "This is rather interesting."

As we continued on our way to the dining room, Soma continued to cling to me, making sure that I was always between him and Sebastian. The demon in question seemed to take special care to keep next to me, if only to terrify Soma even more.

For some reason, Lau was still around when we got downstairs. I wondered where he had gone before. He had disappeared when I had started cleaning the carpet. Honestly, I'd hoped he'd gone home. But nope, he was still here.

Sebastian brought out a new tea set and served a fresh pot of tea, while I sat and balanced myself on the arm of Ciel's chair while he spoke. "To think that West was after the Royal Warrant," he frowned. "Well, I suppose that's something that detestable rogue would think of."

Soma cocked his head to the side curiously. "What exactly is a Royal Warrant?" He asked as Sebastian placed a teacup next to him. He immediately flinched and cowered as far from him as possible. Sebastian stared at him innocently, like he had no idea why the prince suddenly seemed so jumpy around him.

I rolled my eyes at them, and turned to Lau. "It's an endorsement given by the royal family to shops that they like," he explained. "A Royal Warrant is the British seal of approval."

Sebastian straightened. "A week from now," he said. "There will be a curry contest held at the Crystal Palace."

Soma's eyes widened. "Curry?"

"Yes," Sebastian nodded. "According to rumours, the queen – a famed curry lover – may also come to observe the competition."

Ciel scoffed. "Mere rumours," he brushed them aside. "Her majesty rarely makes public appearance since the death of her husband, prince Albert." I hissed quietly, derisively. _So she just sits inside that palace and wallows in her misery?_

"What does curry have to do with everything that has occurred?" Soma asked. I was curious about that too.

Ciel crossed his legs and leaned his cheek against a fist. "The main dish served at West's coffee house is curry," he said plainly. "If he wins the warrant, his sales will undoubtedly go up. The men involved in the inverted hanging incidents would also have been participants in the contest."

My eyes widened. "You're saying he had Agni carry out all those incidents to reduce the competition?"

Ciel nodded. "He then used the message to make it seem as though the incidents were carried out by Indians who were angry with England. Agni probably went along with the plan in order to save Meena, for the sake of his god."

"Eh?" Soma stared at the sheet of paper Ciel pushed in front of him. It was the message that had been stuck on the front of one of the hanging men. The crudely drawn mouth with the tongue sticking out was there.

"Speaking of gods," Ciel said. "One of your gods, Kali, has her tongue sticking out. Since Agni wrote this, and his god is you, he must have done all of this for your sake. He's probably written all of his prayers and apologies there."

My head swung to Sebastian when he spoke. "Even though you're both apart, Agni still believes and lives for you," he smiled. "You really do have a wonderful servant, don't you?"

Soma gripped the paper tightly. "Agni..."

"Oh well!" Lau suddenly clapped his hands together cheerfully. "All's well that ends well! We shouldn't get involved any further." _You have nothing to do with this,_ I stared at him blankly. _No one knows why you're still here._ "Let's just leave this to Scotland Yard."

Soma gaped at Lau. "But what will happen to Agni and Meena?"

"Who knows?" The Chinese man smiled blithely.

I glared at him. "Please don't make such useless comments," I deadpanned. He just made a sound and continued smiling.

Ciel gave me a look, which I returned with an innocent _what-I didn't-do-anything_ expression. It wasn't my fault Lau got on my nerves. He got on Ciel's nerves too. "There is no underworld involvement," he said, looking away from me. "So it has nothing to do with me." I sweatdropped at Ciel's blunt attitude. "However," he smirked and his gaze slid back to me. "I _was_ called out to London for this idiotic case. I should be compensated, don't you think?"

I grinned back at him. "That sounds perfectly right, young master." _Yay! More fun time!_

"Luckily," he continued. "All of the famous other curry shops have been knocked out of the competition by West. If the Phantomhive Company participates in the contest and beats West, we'll receive the Royal Warrant. I'd been considering expanding into the food industry anyway."

I had to restrain myself from hugging Ciel right there and then. _I love the way this kid's mind works!_

And then Lau had to speak. "But there's only one week left, right?" He quizzed. "Will you be able to get the specialists and machinery needed to make the curry in time?"

Ciel smirked. "I don't need any of that," he looked up at the butler on the other side of the chair. "Right, Sebastian?" _Yeah, _I rolled my eyes. _Because Sebastian can do pretty much everything._ Even make curry.

Sebastian bowed slightly. "It is only natural for someone who serves under the Phantomhive family to be able to do this," he said. "I will obtain the Royal Warrant without fa-!"

"That's impossible," Soma interrupted. I blinked and turned to him curiously. Had he recovered from his Sebastian-induced trauma already? Well that was fast.

Sebastian turned to stare at him and he flinched backwards. _Guess not,_ I sighed quietly, before focusing on Soma. "What do you mean by '_that's impossible'_?" I asked Soma. I mean, this was Sebastian we were talking about. If he said he was going to do something, he would definitely do it, no matter how physically impossible it seemed.

"There's no way you can win," Soma leaned back in his chair. "They have Agni. And he has the goddess Kali's right hand!"

I arched an eyebrow at him. "So what's your point?"

Ciel nodded. "It's true that Agni's prowess as a fighter is quite formidable," he conceded. "But this time we are dealing with the culinary arts."

"_That's_ why I'm saying it!" Soma insisted. He then explained to us Agni's miraculous skills with creating curry from a bunch of random spices, the difficulty in doing it. I listened with interest, as did Sebastian and Ciel. "I have never tasted a more delicious curry than Agni's," Soma finally concluded.

I pouted. "Well that's a bit of a downer," I glanced at Ciel and Sebastian. "What do you guys think?"

Sebastian however, did not look at all annoyed by this bit of information whatsoever. He put a hand to his chin with a smile. "Well, that does sound like a challenge, doesn't it? Still," he smirked. "I believe I can handle it."


	18. Curry Contests and Angelic Appearances

**Curry Contests and Angelic Appearances**

The night ended on the previous note. Soma went to bed, eying Sebastian nervously all the way. Sebastian took Ciel to his room, and I went to sleep in mine. As I stripped and donned my nightgown for bed, I wondered what Sebastian would do, and if Agni was actually going to be a real challenge for him. The white-haired man had shown remarkable skills in martial arts, but Sebastian showed skill in…everything. Which wasn't natural, but then he wasn't natural.

Nothing in this mansion is natural. The butler was a demon, our guard dog was a supernatural creature and the master had a Faustian contract. Bard, Mey-Rin and Finny seemed like bumbling, accident-prone beings, but I was sure that they too had secrets.

Even I wasn't natural, although I wasn't sure in what way. _There's no point stressing yourself over such things tonight, _I told myself firmly. With a quiet sigh, I closed my eyes and rolled onto my side to find a cooler spot on my pillow. I was quickly enveloped by the sweet darkness of sleep.

**No One's POV**

Gleaming red eyes stared hungrily at the prone form on the bed. Thalia's chest rose and fell gently with every quiet breath. Sebastian ran his eyes greedily over the slender curve of her neck, the pinkness of her lips, and the dark lashes that brushed the tops of her cheeks.

He wished that it wasn't so cold to her, so that she wouldn't have pulled her comforter so far over herself so that only her head and neck remained, and the tips of her toes. Still, he would take whatever he could get. He liked watching her this way, when she was completely closed off from the world and wasn't glaring at him.

Not that he didn't enjoy seeing her awake, seeing the way her eyes lit up when something amused her, and watching the way blood pooled into her cheeks whenever he touched her. Yet there was something undeniably arousing about seeing her when she was most vulnerable. It was also slightly endearing.

He frowned as the word popped into his head. That seemed rather foreign to him. Was this part of having a soul-mate? Having words like _endearing_ and _adorable_ flowing into your vocabulary? He didn't feel any different than before, only now he had this urge to take his little mate and protect her, satisfy her every craving (and he did mean _every_ craving).

She squirmed a little in her sleep, and he wondered if he had woken her up, although he hadn't made a sound since his arrival. Thalia sighed, and then settled down again. Her braid had slipped while she was moving, and it fell across her front, exposing the back of her neck and part of his mark. Sebastian couldn't help but smirk at the sight of it, like a brand across her skin, marking her for him.

_Mine,_ he brushed the bare tips of his fingers against her throat. Her breath caught in her sleep, and he smiled.

Even if she didn't know it yet, she was _his_.

oOo

I skipped downstairs the next morning. Morgan was coiled around my neck, after being AWOL for so long. I wondered why she kept disappearing all the time, and where she kept going. The black cat yawned into my neck, and I tickled her behind one ear. "Where do you keep going, Morgan?" I asked her. "Do you have some secret feline lover that I don't know about?"

She mewed and hopped off my shoulder, and began to preen herself prettily. If ever a cat could act coquettish, that would be Morgan. She eyed me out of golden eyes, and then stalked off. I watched her go, probably to go meet her secret cat lover. _Well, she can do whatever so long as she stays out of Ciel's way. _Morgan turned a corner, and I continued on my way to the kitchen.

_Huh,_ I sniffed the air experimentally. _Something smells good. Like, _really_ good! _The closer I got towards the kitchen, the stronger the delicious scent became. _Ginger, thyme, garlic, peppers… _I wondered what Sebastian was doing cooking something so obviously full of spices and condiments so early in the morning.

I pushed open the door. "What's going on?" And then I froze in the doorway and gaped at the interior of the kitchen.

The table in the centre of the table was now a stand for about 24 different types of curry, each ranging from dark brown to almost green in colour, and each smelling just as amazing as the other.

Sebastian was standing at the front with Soma, who looked as confused as I was. "Y-you made these all by yourself?!"

"What the hell?" I stared at the many pots on the table as I made my way towards them. "When did you even find time to do this?" My stomach cramped painfully as the scent assaulted me. "Wait, did you do this _all night_?" I knew he didn't need to sleep, but seriously?

Sebastian looked pleased with himself. "It did take the better part of last night, yes," he told me. He turned to Soma. "The only one who knows Agni's curry is you," he said to the prince. "I ask for your co-operation in finding one of these that comes close to it, if even by a fraction." So saying, he poured a ladleful of curry into a bowl and handed it to Soma, who looked highly daunted by this task, but who agreed anyway for the sake of Meena and his _khansama_.

_Can I get some of that curry too?_ I was hungry, Sebastian made excellent food, and there was more than enough curry to go round. Feed me goddammit!

I tugged on Sebastian's arm, and he looked down at me in acknowledgement. "Yes, Thalia?"

_I want curry. Give me curry. _I pointed at the curry. "Can I have some?" I asked in the nicest, politest voice I could muster. "Please?"

Sebastian hummed for one long, frustrating moment. "I don't know," he said with mock concern. "We do need this curry. And I'm not sure you really deserve any." I could feel myself swelling with annoyance, but I bet I just looked like a tomato to him. I mean, judging by the way he smirked down at me.

"But I'm so hungry!" I whined, tugging more insistently on his sleeve like a five-year-old child. "Please Sebastian!" I begged. "Please, please, _please!_"

"I don't know…"

"Goddammit!" I turned to Soma. "Soma!" He jumped and hastily swallowed the bite of curry he had in his mouth. I pointed at Sebastian. "Beg him for me!" Soma blinked up at me, and then he leaned to the side to face Sebastian. Suddenly, his face paled and he went back to shoving curry into his mouth with panicked haste.

I blinked and turned back to Sebastian, who smiled at me serenely. I sweatdropped at the look of innocence on his face, and then my stomach suddenly twisted, and I groaned.

"Aw, come on!" I stared up at him with my biggest, roundest puppy-dog eyes. Puppy dog eyes don't really work too well for me, but I tried. "I'll do anything! Within reason," I quickly added, seeing the way his eyes lit up at my words. I didn't even _want_ to know what that pervert was thinking off.

He poured some curry into a dish. "I'll be sure to remember that, Thalia." I shivered at the way he said my name, and then promptly forgot all about it as a bowl of hot, steaming, Indian-curry goodness has handed to me. I parked myself beside Soma and proceeded to chow it down, savouring each and every bite.

_Holy crap, this is so good~. But why do I feel like this might come back to bite me in the butt later on? Ah well._

I ended up staying in the kitchen until well into the day. Soma put up a good fight, and finally crashed after the last bowl, belly bulging out of his shirt as he slumped into what most people might call a _food coma_. I watched Sebastian as he prepared a sweet snack for Ciel from my place against the sink.

I stared at the partially empty pots curiously. "Were you really up all night doing this?" I asked him, swinging my legs back and forth as I sat on the kitchen counter.

Sebastian pulled the chocolate cake that he had been baking out from the oven and proceeded to cut a slice of it. "I did answer that, didn't I?" He replied. "Demons don't need to sleep the way humans do."

He had told me that before. I nodded quietly and gazed at the chocolate cake. I really wanted some. I hadn't eaten so much curry that I was as stuffed as Soma was. And besides, I really liked chocolate. Sebastian could spare a slice, right? _Should I even ask him? He'll probably say no, and then I'll have to promise him another favour. The first one was already a mistake..._

"Thalia, you're staring." I blinked and realised that I had been staring at Sebastian. I averted my gaze to the ground quickly, and then flushed when he came to stand in front of me. He was so close that I couldn't get down from my spot without becoming completely plastered to his front.

Something brushed against my lips. It was a piece of cake being held by a hand with black fingernails. My eyes widened and I stared up at the man in confused, embarrassed shock. "Sebastian, what are you doing?"

Sebastian's eyes gleamed mischievously and he touched the cake to my mouth again, tracing my lips with a corner. "Don't you want a bite, Thalia?" He teased me. "I saw the way you were staring at it. Such a greedy little girl."

I scowled up at him, taking offense. "I am _not_ greedy! I just happen to really like chocolate cake, alright?" The fact that I had eaten three bowls of curry earlier did not mean that I was greedy! I just got hungry really easily! "Besides, I can feed myself. You don't need to feed me." He pulled back when I reached for the cake, and pinned down my hand with his own.

"Maybe," he leaned closer to me, so close that I could feel the heat of his body and see the different shades of red in his irises. "But what's the fun in that? Come on, Thalia..."

Okay, there is only so much I can take, alright? It was cake, even if it _was _Sebastian. I didn't totally dislike the guy. In fact, if I was being honest with myself, I was horribly attracted to him. Which was terrible, but I could force myself to get over it. Or, at least I could force myself to not turn into a puddle of melted goop whenever he touched me.

So, it was with this in mind that I opened my mouth and ate the damned piece of cake right out of Sebastian's hand. He released the hand he had been holding, and watched me chew up the cake with a heated glow in his eyes. I glared at him while I chewed. "What are you looking at?" I snapped. "Can I go now?"

He brought the hand that had been holding the cake to his lips and licked the last bit of chocolate from his fingers. His eyes darkened, and his voice lowered to a more seductive timbre. "Mmm, not yet..."

My eyes widened as his face came closer, closer. By then, I knew that he was about three seconds away from kissing me, and then my plan to not be so attracted to him would fly out the window like the wind. I was also embarrassed, because that would be my first kiss and Sebastian was a demon with years of expertise on the matter. I was _not_ about to shame myself in front of him.

Which was why I panicked, turned my head to the side and screamed: "RAPE!" The word was so unexpected that it effectively shocked him into stopping, and gave me the necessary two seconds I needed to roll out of his hold and sprint from the kitchen like a rabbit on fire.

I ran outside through the backdoor in the kitchen. I was fairly certain that Sebastian wouldn't follow me outside. He still needed to take the cake to Ciel after all, and he still needed to cook more curry. Still, I didn't stop running until I reached the little shed where Finny kept the gardening equipment and some other random odds and ends. I hadn't really had a chance to explore it before, other than a brief look inside whenever Finny and I were assigned to the garden.

Speaking of the adorable gardener, I could hear his voice coming from inside the shed. He sounded like he was cooing to someone, or something. I hadn't seen him all that often, and I wondered what he was doing. I peered into the shed and waited for a bit to let my eyes get used to the darkness.

Finny was crouching over something in the corner. Whatever it was moved, and he smiled. "You're so cute, aren't you?" He said quietly. Tiny mews replied him, and my eyes widened when I came closer.

There was a small litter of cats in the corner. Morgan was curled around the kittens, lying contentedly. I could see no father to speak of, but I could see four baby kittens, tinier than my palm, lying beside her like tiny puffballs. "Oh my gosh…"

Finny jumped and whirled around to face me. "Thalia!" He relaxed a bit, but he still looked nervous. "Wah, I'm sorry Miss Thalia! I was going to tell you, I promise!"

I smiled and walked over to him. "It's alright, Finny," I nudged him gently. "I don't mind. They're really cute, aren't they?" I crouched down in front of the tiny family. "Can I touch them?"Morgan eyed me contentedly, and then meowed. I took this to mean 'yes', and carefully ran my finger over the delicate creatures. Three were black, like their mother, and the last one was white with black socks. "They're so soft!" I giggled. One of the black ones hooked its tiny claws into my finger and I picked it up gently and held it out to the gardener. "Come on, pet one!"

Finny clenched his fists. "I don't want to hurt them," he looked down at his feet.

"You won't," I grabbed his hand and guided him. "See?" I moved his hand so his fingers stroked the head of the kitten I was holding. Finny held his breath, eyes wide, as he touched the tiny bit of life in my hands. "So, when did you find them?" I asked, when I put the kitten down.

"A few days ago," he replied, and then he stood up. "I have to go now," he beamed at me happily. "Thank you for letting me touch them, Miss Thalia! Bye!"

"Bye Finny!" I watched him run out of the shed, and then turned my gaze back to the kittens. "Sebastian would love this," I mused. Christmas was only a week away, and I had yet to buy anyone presents! I had certainly saved up enough money, hadn't I? _This could be part of his present. But I'd have to make sure that he doesn't come anywhere near the shed before then._

I had never seen Sebastian venture near the shed except to scold Finny for something or to check the garden supplies. It shouldn't be too hard to keep him away.

I suddenly remembered how close he had been to me, how he had stared at me. My heart began to pound unnecessarily hard and I closed my eyes. "Attraction is a terrible thing sometimes," I said aloud. "Why do I have to be attracted to him? I did say he was probably exerting some sort of influence, but I don't think that's it." Whatever it was felt like more than that, much more.

Morgan meowed something, and nosed one of her babies back to her side. A cool gust of wind blew into the shed, and I shivered. Time to go inside. I made sure to shut the shed door tightly so that no freezing draughts would slip in. It was late afternoon, but during the winter months, the sky only seemed to range in shades of grey and slate before becoming dark.

_It's almost Christmas…_

oOo

The next morning, the entre Phantomhive household headed to the Crystal Palace to watch the curry showdown between Agni and Sebastian. I was wearing a new dress that Sebastian had procured for me, by Ciel's orders (seeing as the only other outfits I owned were my maid uniforms and a bunch of Finny's old clothes).

The dress was white, with a collared neck and black, corset-like thing going around the bodice. There was a slit going up the right side of the dress that stopped a little above my knee. I have a feeling he got one with that particular feature just to annoy me, although when I asked, he just gave me an innocent look and insisted that the dress would allow me to move with greater flexibility. It was, in no way, an attempt on his part to allow him to stare at my legs through the slit.

I didn't believe him, but he was right about the flexibility part. Besides, the skin of my legs was hidden by a pair of almost-knee-high boots and the black stockings I'd received as part of my unfortunate gift from Lau.

The venue for the curry competition was packed, with many people milling around. Again, I found myself slipping into old thoughts as I eyed each person and considered how easy it would be to lighten their pockets.

Sebastian bowed courteously. "Well then, I have preparations to make, so I must excuse myself," he walked away to the cheers of the other servants.

"Good luck!"

"Be sure to have fun!"

I placed a hand on my hip and sighed, and then I noticed Soma slip away into the crowd. I tapped Ciel on the shoulder. "Soma's gone," I whispered to him. "I think he may have seen something, or someone." Maybe he had seen that woman he'd been looking for. Either way, he could get lost in this crowd.

Ciel glanced in the direction I was looking, and we both saw a flash of purple amidst the London grey and beige. "You three can go to the stage," Ciel ordered the Bard, Mey-Rin and Finny. "Thalia and I want to have a look around."

"We'll come too!" I resisted the urge to grind my teeth together. For some reason, Lau was with us, as was Ran Mao. I couldn't help staring at her outfit, and wondering if it would look as provocative on me as it did on her. My chest was only a little bit smaller than hers. _Why am I thinking of this!?_

The three of us trailed Soma easily through the crowd. It was easy, considering that he was wearing such brightly coloured clothes and he was the only person around with purple hair. We finally spotted him in front of a fountain embracing an Indian woman. _So I was right! _I thought triumphantly.

However, my triumph and happiness soon disappeared when I heard the conversation. Soma had described Meena as being kind, being the only one who cared for him (excluding Agni, of course), but this woman was bitter and cruel. She obviously didn't care about anyone other than herself. She was so buried in her own problems that she didn't care about the needs of others.

"I'd had enough of looking after your selfish needs!" She smiled at him coldly. "I'd promised not to say a word, but after seeing your face…you're old enough to know the truth, aren't you?"

Soma stood frozen as she walked away from him, leaving him hurt and betrayed. "Oh?" Lau hummed. "That was rather unexpected, wasn't it Earl?"

"Not entirely," Ciel replied, straightening. "Well, we've seen enough. We should head back to the stage."

I frowned and glanced back at the prince worriedly. "But, what about Soma…?"

Ciel had already turned away and begun walking in the direction of the contest. "He isn't a child anymore, is he?" He called over his shoulder. "A few hard knocks around the ears may do him some good." As always, I thought Ciel was far too blunt, and not nearly nice enough to others, but some part of me agreed with him.

Besides, if we didn't leave now, we would miss the beginning of the competition. We hurried back to the stage, leaving Soma behind in the lessening crowd.

The competition was just about to start when we pushed our way to the front of the crowd. The man in charge of the competition was the same bearded man that had hosted the Ice Sculpting contest just a few weeks ago. He raised a hand to call the crowd's attention. "Thank you for waiting!" He began. "Welcome to the Curry Festival for the pride of London's curry shops!"

On the stage were the chefs: a blond guy, two men with moustaches, a shifty-eyed man with tiny spectacles, Sebastian and finally Agni. I hadn't seen the man since he'd shed tears of blood and then tried to kill us. Oddly enough, I did not really hold it against him whatsoever.

On the other side of the stage were the judges: a rotund man with black hair and a moustache, an impeccably dressed man in a chef's uniform and wearing a golden medal on a red and white chain, and finally…

_Oh god…_

"Oh? He's here again," Lau noted with a somewhat oblivious smile.

"What a show-off," Ciel sighed.

"I don't like that guy," I scowled and folded my arms across my chest.

"Well then," the announcer started. "Let us commence with the cooki-" At that moment, music began to play a very familiar tune. A scarlet red carpet rolled down the centre of the crowd, which parted and turned around to stare at the figures approaching: the figure of a small woman or girl dressed all in black, being guided by a tall man dressed in white and lilac.

_The queen?_ _Huh, I guess it wasn't just a rumour after all._

"Her majesty!" The announcer bowed. "England's own mother, or beloved Queen Victoria, has graced us with her presence!"

I looked around as excited whispers began to fly through the crowd. The only one I found particularly interesting was the one about her losing weight. Druitt rose and began to sing the national anthem, leading the whole assembly to join in. "_God save our gracious queen, long live our noble queen… _"

Well, the whole assembly excluding Lau, Ran Mao, Sebastian, Bard (which was a bit surprising) and myself. As the queen and her consort made their way between the crowd and to her seat, they passed me. I suddenly got an intense feeling of déjà vu. This moment was not familiar to me, but something else was.

The feeling passed. The queen was seated on the throne that had been prepared for her _just in case_ she decided to make an appearance. Her consort leaned down to listen to her, and then straightened to smile at us. "Her majesty declares," he started.

The feeling of déjà vu was back again, and I frowned. _Have I seen this guy before? _His voice seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. His appearance put me in the mind of another white haired person I'd met before, but that had been so long ago that I had almost completely forgotten about Angela.

"_We have not seen you in quite some time, and are sorry to have you so concerned_," the man narrated._ "However, our constitution has improved remarkably and we are now even able to come and sample curry. We wish everyone well, and hold great expectations for this food that my late husband loved so much._"

The cheers of the people drowned out my thoughts, and I decided to turn my mind to other things. Namely, the curry competition. "Well then," the announcer beamed. "To the cuisine!"

Both Agni and Sebastian were blurs as they grabbed and tossed numerous spices into pots. An alluring scent began to rise up from their pans. They matched each other pinch for pinch, spice for spice, chop for chop. It was all going great until… "Hey, what's he doing?"

I blinked and stared up at the stage with some surprise. Sebastian was breaking up bits of chocolate and tossing them into the curry mixture. Whispers and mutters of "what is he doing?" and "how disgusting!" rose up from the confused crowd. Ciel didn't seem too perturbed though, and neither was I.

West burst out laughing. "That's a sweet maker for you!" He laughed. "His advertising technique is certainly unique!"

I scowled. "I really don't like that guy," I muttered aloud.

However, it turned out what Sebastian's strange addition of chocolate to the curry was actually a really good decision. Cacao and butterfat were apparently _bona fide_ ingredients for a curry. "How did you, an Englishman, ever come up with such a thing?" Agni asked Sebastian.

Sebastian smiled at the man. "It was by my young master's order," he answered. "Whatever my young master orders me to do, I will do without fail. I am just one hell of a butler."

_He just had to say that, didn't he? _I glanced at Ciel curiously. "You ordered him to throw chocolate into the curry?"

"He does have a way with words, doesn't he?" Lau smiled.

Ciel scoffed with mild irritation. "Was that supposed to be sarcasm?" Sebastian glanced our way with a smile. I stared at him for all of two seconds, and then looked away. Yesterday's events were still rather fresh in my mind.

I suppose, after Sebastian's bout of genius with the chocolate, Agni decided that it was time to pull out the big guns. He reached into a basket and pulled out something that looked like a giant, blue shrimp, only with claws. A lobster.

"A blue lobster!" Druitt stood up, eyes shining. "The legendary lobster, said to live only off the coasts of Brittany. That deep cerulean that even compares favourably to the Chartres Cathedral! Wrapped in its delicate, colourful shell, it is just like a fine lady in a blue dress! Hidden underneath is a sweetness of the highest quality said to lead men to delirium!"

I shuddered at the end of that description. "As you can see," West boasted loudly. "This is the highest quality ingredient for a curry! It is not merely some cheap little additive!"

Agni launched into a flurry of activity as he shelled, sliced, fried, sautéed and mixed his ingredients to the perfection only someone blessed with the goddess Kali's right hand would possess. Sebastian seemed undisturbed by all of this, and merely continued with his cooking with secret smile on his face. Finally, time was up.

The first curry was a flop, according to the judges, as the chef used curry powder instead of creating the whole thing from scratch. The second curry, made by that shifty-looking guy I mentioned earlier, was better. The chef had used his own spice, which (according to Druitt) gave the curry a lovely scent. The head chef argued that, since that one spice drowned out the scent of the others, the curry was clearly unbalanced.

Finally, Agni stepped forward with his curry. "May I present my curry," he lifted the cover of the tray in his hand to reveal a lovely arrangement of curry and lobster. "Lobster and seven-flavour sauce." As expected, it was a huge hit with the judges. The sauces all blended in perfectly with the lobster meat, and the arrangement of the curry and shellfish on the platter was aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.

Druitt did go into some long-winded speech, comparing the deliciousness of the curry to a beautiful woman wearing jewels, all the while sparkling and managing to look like he was in the throes of passion. I tuned him out though, since I was really tired of hearing him talk.

_I want to eat some of Agni's curry now._ I wondered if that was being traitorous. It wasn't like Agni was our enemy, per se. Besides, curry was curry. Sebastian wouldn't kill me for tasting Agni's efforts.

Speaking of Sebastian, the butler in question was now making his way towards the judges with his own tray. He bowed. "May I humbly present my curry," he lifted the tray to reveal…

You know, I don't know exactly what those were. They looked like large balls of dough. _Sebastian, what am I looking at here? I don't know what's going on._ I wasn't the only one that was confused. The judges stared at the tray with perplexed expressions.

The head chef pointed at Sebastian with an incensed look on his face. "Are you toying with us?"

Sebastian simply walked over to a large pan of hot oil and dropped the dough-balls into it. I wanted to trust that Sebastian knew what he was doing, I really did, but a part of me was thinking _what the actual frick-frack is he doing?_ "What are you doing Sebastian?" Bard yelled. "Are you trying to make doughnuts or something?"

After a moment, Sebastian brought out the newly fried dough. "It is complete," he held up the fried bread, which would probably be delicious and rather well received if the whole contest wasn't about _curry_. "This is our company's curry."

"And I'm asking," the head chef snapped. "Where is the curry itself?"

Druitt stared at his own plate for a moment, and then his eyes widened. "Wait a minute," he pressed the edge of his knife against the bread. "This is...!"

My eyes widened in shock. The curry was _inside _the bread! An audible gasp of awe rose up from the crowd. "This is the curry that our company proudly presents," Sebastian smirked. "It is called Curry Bread!"

I had to hand it to Sebastian. The idea of Curry Bread was creative. That was sure to get us points, so long as it tasted nice. I was sure it would. Sebastian was an awesome cook. The head chef eyed a forkful of the curry bread, before taking a bite.

He froze, and actually stood up in his seat. "This is delicious! The fried bread's crunchy yet fluffy crust creates a superb gradation with the thick curry, which is perfectly formed!"

"What's more impressive, more than anything else," the other judge said. "Is the architecture that keeps the taste and fragrance in. The second you cut it open, it's all released!"

I didn't tune out Druitt this time, at any rate. He still did the sparkling, throes of passion expression though. "This is the alluring young lady I met at the dinner party. By day, she was a childlike, teasing little bird. But when the evening came, she revealed her true face, and it was nothing less than that of a true lady!" He suddenly hugged himself. "I want to embrace you!"

_I wish I had tuned that out now._ Ciel shuddered beside me, and I stared at him curiously. I remembered the way he had reacted the last time we had seen the Viscount. _Wait, no!_ I stared at Ciel with wide eyes. "Ciel...don't tell me..."

He glared up at me with such venom, daring me to finish my question, so I held my tongue and looked away to hide my smile. I tried to image Ciel in a dress, and a little giggle escaped me.

"Yet another high praise!" The announcer said. "Has the victor become less certain?" Sebastian and Agni stared at each other unblinkingly. _Wow, there's a lot of tension up there._ "Now we shall allow the judges time to deliberate on their verdict. In the meantime, feel free to help yourself to whatever curry suits you!"


	19. The Goddess Kali's Curry

**Thanks for all the reviews you guys! As for the Guest, I'm working on the kiss scene! Relax! I want to be able to give it the justice it deserves!**

**Thalia: Why must you torture me this way?**

**Sebastian: Why, Thalia, don't act like you don't dream about it. You crave the way my hands would feel on your skin and my mouth on your-**

**Me: OKAY LET'S KEEP THIS PG-13 PEOPLE! THERE IS A CHILD IN THE ROOM! *covers Ciel's ears* I do not own Black Butler! **

**The Goddess Kali's Curry**

Most of the crowd began to surge in the directions of the tables on which the curry was being served. I looked down at Ciel. "Do you want me to bring you anything?" He shook his head, so I shrugged and headed for the table with Bard, Mey-Rin and Finny.

The three of them, being the loyal servants that they were, focused solely on Sebastian's curry bread and nothing else. I grabbed one curry bread and took a bite. It was delicious! It was so good that I chomped it down in a few bites. I quickly grabbed another two for later, before moving on to the other curries.

I sampled all of them, even the dodgy one that was mostly curry powder and beef. It wasn't horrible but, compared to Sebastian and Agni's cooking, it might as well have been chalk water. Finally, I stopped in front of one. The curry in the large bowl had a singular, yet amazing aroma. Still, some part of me didn't want to eat it. I allowed my curiousity to reign this time, and took a bowl of the curry.

It tasted like every other curry I'd eaten in my life. There was nothing exceptionally unique or special about it, other than that it tasted better than the first one. I could taste the mysterious spice in the curry, but I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. There was something slightly off about it. My neck began to itch, and I reached up to scratch absently.

A gasp rose up from the crowd. _I wonder what's happened now. _I put down my bowl and made my way back to the front where I had left Ciel. I soon spotted the cause of the shock. Sebastian was serving one of the curry breads to the queen. I smirked and inwardly cheered. That was sure to sway the judges! If the queen liked it, then we were definite winners!

I watched as she removed a glove from one hand, accepted the curry bread from her butler, and lifted her veil to take a small bite. The butler listened to her verdict, and then narrated it back to us. "Her majesty declares," he began. "_A food that is easy for even children to eat, requiring neither knife nor fork, fulfilling both the rich and the poor, allowing both children and adults to partake of it equally. Such food is commensurate with my dream of creating a kind, pure country._"

_How did she manage to say all of that in the space of a few seconds? _I wondered.

"This kind stance," he finally said. "Which treasures both children and the future moves her majesty greatly."

"Don't make me sick!" A woman's voice cut through the air like a whip. I recognised the woman in question as Meena. She was leaning over the curry table, and I could see a blue-black aura enveloping her body. "That's too sugary," she scoffed. "Equality? The future? For this bountiful country with no hardships at all, no wonder you have such a pretentious queen!"

She suddenly swept the curry off the table with a single movement, sending it all crashing to the ground. "Meena!" West tried to pull her back. "Stop this! You're in the presence of the queen!"

"Get off me!" She slammed her elbow into his gut with more strength than she should have had, and sent him flying into the trees. _Oh dear,_ I stared at the scene with wide eyes. _Today just got much more interesting._

"Restrain her!" Several policemen ran to hold her down, but she sent them all flying back.

"Shut up!" She screeched. "Curry is rough and spicy!" She continued to knock the policemen about, looking for all the world like a demon herself, or the goddess Kali going on her deadly rampage.

Suddenly, several other members of the audience began to develop matching auras. Their eyes began to glow red like hot coals. "Ciel, stay behind me, okay?" No answer. "Ciel?" I spun around and saw him running towards the queen. "Ciel!"

His path was suddenly blocked by several darkly aura-d men and women, who began to speak almost in unison. "It smells," they said. "It smells of hatred and desire! The stench of filth!"

I ran between him and the lurching crowd, and launched a flurry of well placed kicks and punches. Three of the men fell back. I adopted a defensive stance and scowled over my shoulder at Ciel. "Were you not listening to me at all?"

"Indeed…" another bunch of men suddenly fell, and then Sebastian was standing beside us holding an outstretched ladle. Why a ladle? I don't know. I suppose that was his weapon of choice at the moment. "Are you trying to become like Asura, the one who faced Kali?"

Either Sebastian already knew the name, or he had been doing some research. Ciel recovered quickly. "Isn't it the demon's job to become the head that Kali holds?" Sebastian smirked. "Kindly rewrite the legend," Ciel ordered. "Stop that Kali!"

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian bowed. He turned to me. "Thalia, you'll protect the young master, won't you?"

"Don't worry," I smirked and eyed the people around us. "I can handle this." Sebastian smiled, and then made his way towards Meena, who was tossing policemen around. Oddly, none of the other men and women seemed to have experienced any great surge of strength. _Lucky me, I guess._ I glanced back at Ciel. "This time, please don't run anywhere."

"Filth!" One of the affected men lunged for us. I hit his neck with the side of my palm, and he collapsed. I slammed my knee into the stomach of another man, and kicked another in the chest, using his body as a springboard to kick someone in the face.

Once all the one immediately around us were down, I directed Ciel to the front where the queen was sitting. She didn't seem at all bothered by the chaos occurring. At any rate, he would be safer there. It was further away from the danger. "Now, where is Sebastian…" I turned around and spotted him close by. He was engaged in a violent and rapid-fire fight with Meena. I could barely make out any of their individual movements, but I could see the sparks when they connected.

_Ooh, that looks potentially life-threatening for me._ Being neither a demon, nor a goddess or anything remotely supernatural (at least, I think so) I decided to stick with what I could actually fight. I stood in front of Ciel and knocked out anyone who came close to him.

"You have splendid servants, don't you?" I heard the queen's consort say to Ciel behind me. "It seems that there's no need for me to make an appearance. But, don't you think this is peculiar?"

I turned around and stared at him with a confused frown. "What do you mean by that?" I lifted my hand and clocked a man that had tried to attack while my back was turned.

"If the power of the spice was to react with the darkness and impurities in people's hearts, then why is it only a few people that were affected? If that was the case, then many more people should be going out of control. After all," he said quietly. "There is no one in this world who is truly at peace with themselves."

_You make a suitably good point._ I frowned. _But even so, I'm not sure why only a few people were affected. I ate all the curries, and I'm fine…_

At that moment, Meena ducked past Sebastian and Agni and ran at us with a war cry. I prepared myself to protect Ciel but, before she could even reach us, a shape jumped in front of us. "Wait Meena!" Soma yelled.

"What are you doing?" I gaped at his back. That stupid prince, he was going to get himself killed! Or, he would have, had Meena not slipped on a rather conveniently placed lobster and fallen at his feet.

Soma ran to her side, and lifted a foot. "Forgive me, Meena!" He then _stepped_ on her. Yes, he stepped on her back. He literally raised his foot and ground it into her back. Probably he was remembering the story of how Kali's husband had calmed her by allowing her to step on him. I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh. _The idiot…_

"Sebastian, the Curry Bread!" Ciel called to the man. "Make them eat your Curry Bread!"

"Understood," Sebastian began throwing the Curry Bread into the mouths of the affected people with perfect aim. _Oh the irony,_ I smirked a bit as, one by one, the people began to calm down and lose their auras. _A curry made by a demon to cure demonic madness._ The incongruity of it all was not lost on me. I suddenly remembered the Curry Bread in my coat pocket.

_Wait,_ I frowned. _I ate the affected curry after I'd eaten Sebastian's curry bread. Was the spice neutralized by the Curry Bread, or did it just not affect me?_ Just to be sure, I ate one of the snacks in my pocket.

Sebastian threw a Curry Bread into Meena's mouth, and she calmed. Soma knelt down beside her. "Meena?"

She looked up at him. "Soma? You really are…the worst." And, with that, she fell back on the ground in a dead faint.

I huffed and folded my arms across my chest. "Well you're _welcome_."

"Her majesty declares," the white butler spoke. _When does Her Majesty make all these declarations anyway? _I arched an eyebrow as he continued. "_The Kind Curry Bread is able to subdue the evil spice, and free the souls of those in the grip of evil. The Royal Warrant's destination is clear._"

Well, at least _one_ good thing came out of all of this. The sun began to set, and people began to carry the recently affected men and women in stretchers. Soma and Agni had made up, which was good. A stretcher bearing Meena was carried past us. "What will happen to them?" Ciel wondered.

"They will not be mistreated," the queen's butler walked up to us. "Master Ciel, you did a sterling job today. Also, for obtaining the Royal Warrant, I congratulate you sincerely," he nodded his head in the direction of the queen. "I have a word of appreciation from Her Majesty. Her Majesty declares: _I have put you through a great deal of trouble. I am ever watching your work. I am the light, and Master Ciel is the shadow. Our positions are different, but I believe our wishes are the same._"

_Are they?_ I stared at the man with unblinking eyes. _Are they really?_ I still did not trust him. Something about him made me really uncomfortable.

He bowed. "Please continue to use your strength for Her Majesty's benefit in the future."

Ciel stared at the queen silently. "I shall."

The man smiled. "Well then," he turned and stared at me silently for a second. In that second, I felt a pang of something like déjà vu. My eyes narrowed slightly, and he smiled. "I shall take my leave." With that, he left, along with the queen and several police escorts in tow. I stared after him silently, wondering why something about him seemed so familiar.

It wasn't the fact that he looked so much like Angela (although that was pretty weird too). Something about him, the aura he had, seemed hauntingly familiar, but the harder I tried to remember, the more it seemed to slip away from me.

"Thank you, Ciel," Soma's voice jerked me out of my frustrated thoughts. The prince smiled at the young earl. Ciel turned to stare at him with confusion. "If not for you," Soma elaborated. "I would have remained a spoiled and ignorant child. From now on, I'm going to learn lots more. I'm going to travel all over England, no, all over the world and become a fine enough man not to lose face to anyone!"

I smiled at him. "That sounds fantastic," I told him sincerely. He had come quite a long way in the few days. I was actually proud of him.

Agni turned to Sebastian. "Master Sebastian," he suddenly got down on his knees. "The prince and I have gained so much from you all. I could not begin to thank you."

Sebastian just smiled and knelt down in front of him. "Please, raise your head. I merely fought on my own behalf. I have done nothing to be thankful for. Just as the gods you serve, Kali and Shiva, could take the pain they held and see their mistakes, so it is with you both. Also," he glanced at Ciel briefly out of the corner of his eyes. "I doubt a bonding experience without pain would be a fruitful one."

Agni chuckled as they both got to their feet. "To be taught my countries teachings by an Englishman," he rubbed the back of his head with a shy smile. "I am truly humbled."

"Nationality does not matter," Sebastian replied. "Wherever and whenever you are, there will always be similarities. Between humans, that is," he added.

I watched the sunset quietly, thinking about what he had said. He was right. No matter where you are, or who you are, there will always be similarities between people from all over the world. I smiled softly.

Suddenly, Soma burst into tears and grabbed Ciel in a hug. "Meena!" He sobbed into Ciel's back. "Meena!"

"Oi, get off me!" Ciel yelled, trying to shove the boy's face sodden, tearstained face away. "You're getting me wet!"

I sweatdropped at the scene, and carefully wrangled the sobbing boy off Ciel and allowed him to bury his face into my shoulder. "There, there Soma," I cooed. "Meena will be fine. Everything's alright. Hush, stop crying, you're soaking through my sleeve."

"Whah!" He cried even louder. "Meena!"

Agni chuckled lightly. "I'm so glad we came to England. The prince and I have made the best of friends."

Sebastian's eyes widened. "Friends, you say?" He looked rather surprised by this. "That is the first time someone has called me that. I don't think I've ever had a friend before."

"Oi!" I glared at him over Soma's head. "What am I then, chopped liver?"

Sebastian just smiled at me in a way that made me flush, and go back to patting Soma on the back like a toddler. At least he had stopped screaming now, and had simply started snuffling into my neck like a baby. _Aw, that's kind of cute. He better not have gotten snot on my dress though. I like this dress._

I could also feel Sebastian staring at me. Well, more like glaring. I cleared my throat and glanced down at Ciel. "Well, shouldn't we be going home now?" I asked. "It's getting late, and it has been a rather eventful day."

Ciel nodded. "I suppose so." However, when I tried to move, Soma refused to.

Sebastian's glare grew even stronger and I sweatdropped slightly. "Uh, Agni?" I pried the exhausted (because when you cry and scream for a while, you will get a headache and become sleepy) prince from my shoulder and passed him on to the white haired man. I felt the glare lessen behind me, and I released a relieved breath of air.

_Why was he glaring at me anyway?_ I wondered as we made our way to the carriage. _I really didn't do anything. Maybe I made a mistake and he was actually glaring at Soma. _

The inside of the carriage was entirely full, just managing to hold all the servants, Ciel, Agni, and the half-asleep prince. Of course, I could have shoved myself in as well, but Ciel was clearly pissed off about having to sit so close to the prince. He did need a bit of elbow room, I supposed, and so I walked to the front of the carriage where Sebastian was driving the horses.

He glanced down at me curiously. "Thalia, aren't you getting into the carriage?"

"It's too full in there," I told him with a shrug. "So I thought I'd get up here instead. I can, right?" The bench was rather small, but there was just enough space for two people to sit up there.

Sebastian smiled and bowed courteously. "But of course, dear Thalia," he held out a hand to me and pulled me up so that I was beside him. I suddenly began to rethink my choice of seating. The seats were much smaller than I had anticipated, and I could feel a slight pressure when Sebastian's leg brushed against mine.

_It's too close. I want to sit in the carriage! _

"Are you alright, dear Thalia?" I squeaked when the man in question brought his face closer to mine, like he was examining me. "Your face has gotten rather red."

_I want to punch you in the face, and kiss you at the same time,_ I scowled up at him. _Screw you for messing up my ability to make decisions! _"Would you just drive already?" I hid my embarrassment behind anger and snapped at him.

He leaned back, a small smirk on his lips. "Of course," he flicked the reins and the carriage began to move off. It was a new experience for me, riding right in front of the carriage. I couldn't stop staring at the streets, and the tops of other people's heads. "Thalia…?"

"Hmm?" I hummed distractedly, my eyes still occupied with watching the streets. A little girl ran down the street with a red hoop and a stick. A woman gave me a scandalous look, and I realised that the slit had fallen open a bit so my (booted) leg was on display.

I ignored her, but I did rearrange my skirt a bit so that it was a little more decent. Although I didn't really care about random opinions about myself, I was a part of the Phantomhive household now. It wouldn't do to cause people to have wrong views about the family name.

Sebastian was silent for a second. "Never mind." I blinked up at him quizzically for a moment, and then I shrugged and went back to watching London go by. "It's nearly Christmas, isn't it?" He remarked suddenly. "Bard and the others did mention wanting to go into town to buy presents."

_Oh yeah, I still need to do my own shopping! _I hadn't gotten anything for anyone yet, except Sebastian (kind of, it was really just a stroke of luck). At any rate, a small litter of kittens couldn't be his only gift, especially since Ciel definitely won't let him keep any of them. "Do you think Ciel will give me tomorrow off to go Christmas shopping?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I don't see why not," he replied, and then he began to smirk. "Of course, you'll need to have an escort…"

"I don't want you to go with me," I replied promptly.


	20. Christmas Shopping and Waltzes

**I nearly hit a road block on this chapter, you know? But then it ended up so long that I split the Christmas arc into two chapters. I HAVE CRAMMED THESE TWO CHAPTERS WITH SO MUCH FLUFF I NEARLY GOT DIABETES!**

**Thalia: ...weirdo...**

**Sebastian: *is reading chapter* *smirks at Thalia* Oh Thalia...~**

**Thalia:: Crap *runs away screaming***

**Me: Uh...I don't own Black Butler!**

**Christmas Shopping and Waltzes**

"Sebastian has to go with you."

Ciel and I stared at each other from opposite sides of the desk with matching intensity. My lips pursed into a scowl. "But I don't _want_ him to come with me!" I complained. "He'll just tease me and tell me about how much I waste time. Besides, I'm going to buy _presents_!" I stressed the word. "They're supposed to be surprises!"

Ciel shrugged and picked up the paper he had been reading before I had interrupted him. "It isn't safe for a woman to go walking about on her own without a consort," he reminded me. "You may no longer be a street rat, but I don't want you to cause unnecessary damage in the name of self-defence."

"Sebastian causes a lot of unnecessary damage all the time," I jerked a thumb at the man behind me. "But no one yells at _him_. He gets a pat on the back and the admiration of half-a-dozen sighing women."

I heard a sound from behind me like a muffled laugh. Ciel's mouth twitched upwards and he arched an eyebrow into a smirk. "Why, Thalia, is it that you're jealous?" I froze, and spluttered loudly in response. _For crying out loud, he's right behind me!_ "However, my mind is made up. Sebastian will accompany you today."

I folded my arms across my chest, and then turned to glare at Sebastian. "Why are you not more against this?" I asked. "You will be bored! What if I want to go shopping for female undergarments?" I didn't, but I would say nearly anything to shake him off the idea.

It didn't work. "The young master has ordered me to accompany you, and so I must," he shrugged and smiled brightly at me in a way that told me _even if I could disagree I wouldn't because I enjoy watching you squirm_.

"Ciel!" I turned back to the earl.

"Thalia, if you keep this up I'll assume you don't want to go shopping badly enough," Ciel said sharply. "Now, both of you, leave. You're interrupting my work." I bit my bottom lip, swallowed my irritation, and then sighed and left the room with Sebastian right behind me.

"Well," Sebastian glanced down at me. "You do look upset." I grumbled something under my breath in response. "If we leave now, we'll be able to get to London with time to spare."

I brightened somewhat. At least I could still buy presents. Sebastian's presence was a bit of a setback, but I could manage. I'd just make sure to not give him any chances to molest me in public. I ran to my room and grabbed my coat from my chair. By the time I got downstairs, the carriage was in front of the house.

He opened the door and dipped his head. "My lady," he held out his hand with all the courteousness of a nobleman, or a prince. I blushed, but still managed to scoff at the _my lady_ bit. I was _not_ a lady, and I definitely wasn't _his_.

Sebastian sat down next to me in the carriage and tapped the roof. The carriage gave a jerky start, and then began to move off. I stared out of my window, refusing to look at the man beside me. If I did, he would start teasing me. He would tease me anyway, but at least it wouldn't be my fault.

I could see his reflection in the window. He was staring at me rather blatantly, and with a strange smirk on his face. "So, Thalia…"

"What?" I spoke to his reflection, a bit of wariness edging into my tone.

His grin widened. "Are you truly going to shop for female undergarments?"

_This is going to be a long shopping trip…_

* * *

oOo

* * *

We arrived in London early, which was good for me. It meant that the shops weren't too crowded already. I had managed to find presents for Ciel, Bard and Finny rather quickly. For Bard, I got him a cookbook (that he would probably never get to experiment with, unless Sebastian was out of the house) and some sticks of dynamite to replace the ones Sebastian had thrown away. Buying them was easy, but I had to escape Sebastian for a while, which was definitely _not_ an easy feat let me tell you that.

As for Finny, I got him a yellow scarf, a book on gardening and some seed packets. Finnian was my favourite out of all the servants, mostly because he was like a baby brother to me. So was Ciel, but Ciel wasn't really all that sweet or doting.

For Ciel, I had gotten a board/card game called _Foxhunt_, which was a strategy game. It basically involved strategically trapping your opponent and decimating them in the most brutal way possible. It was definitely _not_ a game for young children.

I got a lot of scandalized looks when I bought it from the store but honestly, if they were going to act so shocked then they shouldn't have been selling it in the first place.

_Ciel is going to love this. _I closed my bags and smiled at Sebastian cheerfully. My success at finding so many gifts so quickly had mellowed me out towards him. "Now, all I need to do is find presents for Mey-Rin and you!"

He arched an eyebrow at me. "For me?" He repeated.

I nodded absently, staring into the windows of the shops we passed by. "Of course. It's Christmas. I don't hate you _that_ much," I suddenly spotted something in a toyshop window. "Oh, that looks promising!" I stopped walking and spun around to point at Sebastian. "You can't follow me," I ordered. "So just wait here, and I'll be right out."

Sebastian took my hand gently, and kissed the knuckle. "Yes, my lady." I was sure I heard the swoons of the half-a-dozen women I was talking about earlier.

My face flamed, as it was prone to do when things like this happened. "Could you kindly _not_?" I hissed at him. Sebastian blinked at me innocently. "Ugh, never mind! Just wait here and don't peek at me! This shouldn't take long."

It took longer than I thought, but only because there were so many. You see, what I had seen from the streets was a shelf full of cat plushies. There were black ones, and white ones, and speckled ones, and patched ones, and plushies with button eyes and some with patchwork ears. A complete myriad of stuffed cats.

_I suppose I could go with the normal choice and pick a black one,_ I stared at the toy. _But that would be too obvious. Besides, it's a toy. I should look at the more colourful ones._ I turned away, and then one of them caught my eye.

The cat was both white and red, with a fluffy white body and a red mark on its front that was shaped like a heart. It's eyes were black, and it was arranged in a sitting posture. It's large eyes seemed to stare right at me.

_Buy it._

_NO!_

_But it's so cute! And it's perfect! It's like you!_

_Exactly! I don't want him to think it's some sappy, romantic present like 'oh, now you'll think of me every time you look at it!'_

As you can see, I was engaged in a mental struggle between my brain and…another part of my brain. On the one hand, it did look like me, and it was a cat. Sebastian likes cats. And, if he quizzed me about the colour and the heart, I could always firmly deny any teasing and shrug it off as a coincidence. If I had to, I would deny everything.

Fifteen minutes later, I walked out of the shop with the plushie wrapped up in a bag, and found Sebastian standing where I had left him. I could see also see several women watching him from behind their hands and fans. _Must he draw so much attention whenever we go out in public?_ I quickly hurried over to him before they decided to be bold and approach him. I didn't think he would really go off with them and leave me on my own, but…

…ah, forget it. I'm not explaining myself right now!

"You're back," he stared at me once I'd reached his side. "Did you find what you wanted?"

I nodded and rearranged the bags in my arms. "Yeah, I did. now I just have to find something for Mey-Rin." I knew exactly what the maid would like. The problem was this: was I bold enough to get it? More importantly, was I bold enough to get it with you-know-who nearby? _I can always try. _"Let's check that bookshop, okay?"

The bookshop in question was slightly packed, which was perfect because I was pretty sure I could lose the black-clad butler for a moment in the throng. It did occur to me that the crowd was mostly female, but that would make it even better. I was not about to let him see the book I wanted to buy. It would embarrass me, and maybe Mey-Rin (although I don't think it really would).

It was basically a book on how to uh…pleasure your partner, written in the form of several short stories. It was apparently very popular with a lot of women ever since it had been published and released. Luckily, I managed to grab the last one off the shelf. _Ugh, even holding it is making me uncomfortable,_ I eyed the provocative image on the cover. _Am I really that much of a virgin? How strange for someone who grew up in a brothel._

"_Midnight Pleasures?_" I froze as a hand plucked the book out of my hands. "I didn't think something like this would be your sort of thing," Sebastian smirked down at me. You know, 'embarrassed' doesn't even cover how I was feeling at that moment. "It's alright, dear Thalia," his lips were suddenly right by my ear. I felt hands brush against the fabric covering the nape of my neck. A muted fillip of electricity made me jerk. "We all have our _guilty pleasures…_"

I snapped out of it and snatched the book from him, and then I used it to thwack him on the shoulder as hard as I could. "It's not for me!" I snapped. "It's for Mey-Rin, you evil pervert! It's not for me!"

He smiled and caught my arm as it came down again. "But maybe you should consider getting one for yourself, as well. Although, that might not be necessary. I'm quite willing to teach you everything I know…"

I slapped him again to help myself cope, and because it made me feel better, and then I quickly ran to the till to pay for the book. I exited the store before Sebastian and was at least five metres down the street before he had managed to exit the store. "You are now required to stay, at least, two metres away from me until we get back to the manor," I called over my shoulder.

"Thalia?"

"No."

"Darling?"

"_Hell_ no."

Unfortunately, the carriage did not have the space to accommodate my statement, so I just forced Sebastian to sit on the other side of the carriage as far away from me as possible. Of course, in order to fully ignore him, I had to stare out the window. Unfortunately, I could see his reflection in the glass rather clearly, and I had to endure the uncomfortable feeling of him just smiling at me with dimly glowing eyes.

"WE'RE BACK!" I yelled as soon as the carriage stopped and I jumped down and ran into the mansion. "I'M BACK AND SOMEWHAT OKAY AND…why is Lau here?"

Ciel glared at me over his tea. Sitting opposite him was Lau (that guy visited far too often for my comfort) smiling cheerily. Standing beside Lau was Ran-Mao. "You are far too noisy," Ciel commented. "Did you get everything you wanted, then?"

I blinked. "Yes I did," I held up the bags and parcels. "We're also going to need a tree so we have somewhere to put the presents. I have not seen one, so I assume I'm going to have to beg Sebastian to go get one."

Ciel arched an eyebrow and then he smirked. "I take it your day with him was not as horrible as you envisioned?"

"I'm going to jump over that question and get right back to my first question which was this: why is Lau here?"

"Hello, maid," Lau turned to face me. "I just wanted to drop my presents for all of you." That was when I noticed several colourful packages by Ran-Mao's feet. "I suppose I should be going then. Enjoy your gifts Earl, maid," his smile seemed just a bit more knowing when he referred to me. His eyes glanced at something behind me and I turned to see Sebastian coming into the room. "I also got something for the butler."

Sebastian blinked, clearly confused about the conversation. As soon as Lau left, I dived for the presents. "We need a tree, right now!" I turned to Sebastian. "Can we get one?"

"Unfortunately, I am needed in the kitchen to prepare lunch," Sebastian shrugged. I stared at him silently. Ah well, it's not like I really wanted to be alone with him again. Besides, I knew someone else who could get the job done, and was far better (and less perverted) company.

"FINNY! WHERE ARE YOU? GRAB YOUR HAT AND MAYBE AN AXE! WE ARE GOING CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPPING!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

Two hours later, Finny and I returned with the largest pine tree we could find that would fit through the front door and inside the room. Ciel stared at the two of us with a _wow-you-guys-are-stupid_ sort of expression.

I smiled at him. "Don't think of it as stupid," I folded my arms over my chest. "If you must, think of it as the one day of the year where you can get presents for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Even Sebastian doesn't seem too bothered, and he's the one who should be grumbling around the place."

We both turned to stare at the demon in question. Apparently he had heard what I had said and he looked up from where he was directing the placement of the tree to smile at us cheerfully. "I really don't understand him," Ciel muttered.

"Me and you both," I replied. "Oh yeah," I turned back to Ciel. "Finny and I saw your dance instructor's carriage on our way back." Ciel's eyes widened and he made a sound that could have been a hiss or a growl. Either way, it was clearly a sound of acute displeasure, and then he turned and marched off muttering something that sounded vaguely homicidal under his breath.

"Thalia!" I whirled around. Finny was smiling at me happily from beneath the perfectly put up tree. "Is this alright?"

"It's perfect!" I replied. "I am not complimenting you," I snapped at Sebastian. His mouth was already beginning to twitch up into a smug smile. "I am stating a fact. Go away. NOW, PRESENTS!"

I don't know what it was, but something about Christmas always had happy connotations for me. I hated the cold, but I loved snow. I liked the decorations and the splashes of colour. I loved the presents and the love shared. When my mother was still alive, we used to spend all of Christmas together. Business was always slow that day, due to the amount of church services, and the fact that all the men with wives had to spend that day at home with their families or risk being found out.

Mey-Rin and I quickly arranged all the presents under the tree, and then she left to go back to her room, while I opted to walk around for a while. Morgan had pretty much refused to leave the shed, so I had started taking her food there. I think Sebastian was getting a bit suspicious because I had also started taking more food than normal.

As I traipsed through the halls, I suddenly heard the sound of waltz music coming from one of the rooms, and then a clipped voice snapping out steps. "_Forward, left, back, right...no, no, no! Your steps are too jerky!_"

I blinked and peered into one of the rooms. There was no one there, but the music seemed to be coming from...I looked up at the ceiling. _Oh, it's coming from the room above!_ Ciel's dance class. Either his instructor was a brutal perfectionist, or he was just not a good dancer.

_I wish I could dance. _I turned to leave, and then I paused. _Well, it can't hurt to try. _I angled myself straight, and then I quickly peered around the door to make sure that no one (namely Sebastian) was around. Satisfied that the butler was not in the vicinity, I quickly shut the door and tried to remember the steps I had heard. _Forward, left, back, right...was it forward or back?_ I stopped and tried to remember. "Back."

"SHIT!" I spun around and tripped on the hem of my dress. I collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN?" I glared at Sebastian with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

He just smirked down at me. "Were you practicing the waltz?" He replied to my question with another question. I huffed from my place on the floor, and then blinked when a hand appeared in front of my face.

Pride told me to ignore it, but then I decided to accept the help because why not? I took his hand, and then yelped when he suddenly yanked me up and I found myself pressed against his body quite intimately.

"First of all..." I froze. I could feel the radiating warmth of his lips just a few inches from me. "...you need a partner, don't you?"

"What are you doing?" I squeaked. He swiftly arranged me so that one of my hands was on his shoulders, and the other was held in his. His other hand was at my waist. I could feel its all-too-real solidness and his grip on the curve.

_This was a terrible idea. _I swallowed and stared at our feet. He suddenly yanked me even closer, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes gleamed. "Don't look down, Thalia," he murmured an inch from my face. "Pay attention to _me_."

* * *

**BOOM! I am such a troll please don't hurt me *dies behind rock* I will update soon, I promise! I just really wanted to make a cliffhanger! **

**Please review!**


	21. Mistletoe and Kittens

**Me: Uh, hey everyone…so yeah, sorry about the whole troll-last-chapter thing *dodges tomato* OKAY, WHO THREW THAT? I WILL SIC Sebastian ON YOU, DON'T THINK I WON'T! *Clears throat* Anyway, I'm back and I have the next chapter with me!**

**Thalia: *Is hiding from Sebastian in a demon-proof bunker typed into existence by the authoress because Sebastian kept abducting her during the last introductions***

**Sebastian: *Is standing outside the bunker and trying to get in* Oh Thalia~, you can't hide in there forever…**

**Ciel: -_- Idiots…**

**Me: Ha, well…I don't own Black Butler! Sebastian, is that dynamite?**

**Mistletoe and Kittens**

You know, there are times when everything in the world suddenly becomes a thousand times realer. It's like all of your senses suddenly sharpen and you're seeing and hearing and _feeling_ everything around you in a better, more defined way.

This was one of those times. I suddenly became perfectly aware of the smooth texture of Sebastian's suit under my fingertips, and the warmth of his gloved hand where it held mine. The waltz music was still there, but I couldn't make sense of it anymore, all I could focus on was the rough, almost painful thump of my own heart in my chest.

I focused on his eyes. They were red, I knew that, but I had never stared at them long enough to pay attention to them. They were darker than mine. While mine had flecks of gold in the iris, his were red all through. The red near the edges of his irises was darker than the rest. I almost missed when his mouth curved upwards. "Shall we, my lady?"

For the first time, I didn't argue about not being a lady, and not being his. I just followed his lead as he led me through the steps. He was a good teacher, or maybe he was just good at covering up my mistakes. We twirled faster, and faster, up and down, until I was laughing and clinging to him because if I let go, I was sure I would be flung far away from him and I couldn't have that. He was important to me.

Yes, I thought stupid, sappy things at that moment. I blame it on adrenaline and dizziness caused by too much twirling and dancing.

I focused on his collar and chest. I couldn't bring myself to look any higher than that. I had never noticed before but Sebastian smelled…rather nice. The scent was indescribable. I couldn't really compare it to anything. I could say it was hot, like a spice, but that's about as close as I could get. It was sweet, calming, and that worried me most of all. The urge I had to bury my face in his neck and inhale made me want to slap myself, and him, but mostly me.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and Sebastian stopped as well. Still caught up in the momentum of the dance, I tripped over…something, and fell. Sebastian fell with me, allowing me to land right on top of his body. "I don't know why you fell," I giggled and tried to get back my equilibrium. "You don't fall."

He chuckled softly. "Maybe I wanted to this time. This isn't such a bad position, is it, dear Thalia?"

I opened my eyes fully, and my face flamed. I was lying right on top of him. He was lying on the ground, using his arms to prop himself up. I squeaked and tried to scramble off him, but that only brought his face entirely too close to mine. I became aware that I was also sort-of-but-not-quite straddling his legs.

I squeaked again.

He smiled and his eyes seemed to darken and glow faintly. "What's the matter, dear Thalia?" He asked with false innocence in his tone. "Cat got your tongue?"

_Like I said, this was a terrible idea._ I spluttered, stammered, and finally settled for smacking him on the shoulder and scrambling off him as fast as I possibly could. "Pervert!"

"Me?" He smirked as he watched me retreat. "As I recall, you were the one who fell on top of _me_."

"Accident!" I yelled back. "It was an accident!" I ran out of the room and shut the door behind me firmly. I could blame the abnormal beating of my heart on the dancing, not him.

Definitely not him.

**Sebastian's POV**

That scent, that lovely, lovely scent. It was all around him now, mingled with the euphoric memory of the feel of her body against his. She was warm, soft, and pliant. All perfect, womanly curves and skin so delicious he had to restrain himself from leaning down to taste her.

He wanted to taste her, lick her, bite, sink his teeth into her and mark her as his. He wanted to have her crying out his name over and over as he did this. He wanted her body bare and vulnerable underneath him as he pleasured her over and over.

_But…_ Sebastian frowned slightly and he stared at the window.

But he also wanted her smiles. He wanted her laughter. He wanted her pouts and her grins and her love. He winced slightly. Was this what having a mate did to you? Granted, it wasn't a completely _bad_ feeling. In fact, sometimes it was nearly exhilarating. At the worst, it was just odd. He simply wasn't used to caring for anything this much.

He was an ancient, malevolent creature unused to such strange feelings as _affection_. Of course, he knew that demons could love. He'd also known demons that had found their Soulmates and had seen the way they had acted. He had just barely considered the idea that he would find his.

_But, if it's her,_ he smiled to himself. If it was her, then he wasn't so averse to it.

oOo

The next morning was Christmas morning and, for some reason, Bard decided to wake me up by setting up firecrackers outside my door. I nearly had a heart attack because I thought those were gunshots. The sight of Bard's laughing face, however, quickly turned my fear into anger. "BARD!"

"She's awake!"

"BARD, I WILL KILL YOU!" I caught up with him and tackled him and, if not for Sebastian's sudden appearance, I would have strangled him. Instead, the butler picked me up like I was an irate cat that had gotten out of her cage. "I'll get you later," I promised the chef darkly.

"When?" He had enough air for one more snarky statement. "After you're done smooching with the butler?"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I lunged for him and nearly managed to slip out of Sebastian's arms, but he grabbed hold of me again. Bard ran away cackling loudly. "As for you," I glared up at Sebastian. "Why are you here? Don't get involved with my revenge plans!"

"Good morning, my lady," he replied. I huffed and jumped out of his arms. My hair was an even bigger mess now. I had forgotten to braid it before I went to bed last night, and now it was just a snow-white-and-red mass around my face. I felt like a candyfloss stick. "Merry Christmas."

I calmed down a bit, and smiled back at him. "Merry Christmas to you too." _Wait, it's Christmas. IT'S CHRISTMAS!_ I sprinted back into my room, and then ran out again fifteen minutes later fully dressed. I tackled Finny in a hug when I saw him, since he was the first person I saw on my Christmas rampage. "Merry Christmas, Finny!"

He looked shocked for a second, and then he beamed happily. I noticed that he didn't make a move to hug me back. "Merry Christmas, Thalia!" I pinched his cheeks happily, and then ran to the room where the presents were. I froze in the doorway and gaped up at it in shock.

"Do you like it?" Sebastian's voice came from behind me. I could only nod speechlessly. The whole room was decorated with lights and tinsel and streams of colourful paper cut-outs. The tree too. There was even a golden star right at the top.

I glanced back at Sebastian. "Did you do this?" I asked. "Wait, _when _did you do this? Why am I even asking you that?" He was _one hell of a butler. _Why was I choosing to question his skills? "It's amazing," I gave him a quick hug before i could think too much of it, and then ran off to wake Ciel up.

The waking up Ciel thing didn't go so well though. I suppose I shouldn't have tried to wake him up by throwing his curtains apart to let the sin in, and singing Christmas carols like a toddler, but oh well. He did throw a bunch of darts at me (why does that kid have throwing darts next to his bed?) which was pretty bad.

I skipped back downstairs when Ciel was finally dressed and not as annoyed with me as before. after breakfast was done, I ran into the room with the presents and the tree. "Who wants presents?"

"I do, I do!" Finny and Mey-Rin joined me. Bard followed at a slightly more sedate pace behind the two of them. I looked up to glare at him blackly.

"I still want to kill you though," I scowled at him. His eyes widened slightly. _Yeah, you better be afraid! I can break bones! _"But I did spend money to buy you a gift, so I guess you can live." What? I didn't want his stuff to go to waste! Money doesn't come easily, you know. "So let's do this randomly…uh…" I sat down uon the carpet and eyed the pile of colourfully wrapped parcels. "Ooh, this one's for Ciel!"

Okay, you know what, let me summarise what we all got.

Ciel received a blue scarf from Lady Elizabeth, because she thought it was cute. The 'cute' in the letter that she sent had far too many U's. That girl needs to calm down. He got a bag of candy from Finny, a toy train from Mey-Rin, and a bunch of painted tin soldiers from Bard.

Mey-Rin got my book (which I slipped into her hands when no one was looking), a scarf and…huh, looks like someone else had the same _hey-let's-give-Mey-Rin-dirty-books_ idea I did. I bet it was Bard.

Finny got my presents, a pair of gardening gloves, and some hairclips. I also gave him a finger kiss (you know, when you kiss your fingers and put them wherever you want to kiss? That) on the cheek because he was adorable. I did the same to Ciel, when I handed him his present, and he gave me a dirty look. Still, he looked pleased with the game.

Bard got my gifts (which I hid underneath the other gifts for him because I didn't want Sebastian to kill me), winter gloves, and a really fancy-looking lighter, courtesy of Finny.

"Thanks, Thalia," he grinned, probably having seen the explosives. "I hope you use my gift as much as I plan to use yours."

I frowned, and quickly peeled off the wrapping paper to reveal…the same book Mey-Rin had gotten (I knew it was him!). I sweatdropped, and resisted the urge to bury it in his head. Instead, I buried it under my other presents. "You suck, you know that?" I snapped. "I'm going to burn it, just so you know."

"That'd be a terrible waste of literature," Sebastian commented.

"Shut it, or I'll burn you. Wait…" I held myself back from facepalming. Ciel arched an eyebrow at me and snickered under his breath at what I'd said. Sebastian just looked amused. "Anyway, moving on," I grabbed Finny's present. He'd gotten me a bracelet with a cat's head as a charm, and another charm that looked like it could be attached to a necklace.

"It's for Morgan," he chirped. "You can put it on her collar so the two of you can match!"

_Shit, _I stared at the blonde silently for a few seconds. _Shit he's cute._ "I love it. Thank you Finny!" I gave him a quick hug.

From Mey-Rin I got a black headpiece with a red rose at the centre. After the servants had received their gifts, Ciel sent them away for their Christmas day-off. I didn't get one, not that I wanted one. Therefore, I waved them off and then went back to tearing through my gifts.

"Oh look," I picked one up. It was a small, black box tied with strips of red ribbon. "This one's from…Sebastian?" I eyed the butler suspiciously. "You didn't get me anything strange, right?"

He just smiled enigmatically. "Define _strange_."

I scoffed and started undoing the ribbons. "You know exactly what I mean by…oh wow…" He had gotten me knives! A complete set of throwing knives! They were polished to high gleam, with black handles and perfectly sharpened tips.

Ciel eyed the gift warily, and then glanced at Sebastian tauntingly. "That is rather nice of you, Sebastian."

I missed the amused smirk Sebastian threw his way. "It is, isn't it?" I said, eying my gift appreciatively. "Thank you Sebastian! Then," I put down my present and picked up the box with the present I had gotten him. "This is for you. Mind you, that isn't all," I added hastily. I mean, a cat plushie wasn't really up to the same status as throwing knives. "There's more, but I couldn't really package them…"

Ciel hummed and smirked at me. "You got him more than one present?" He asked. "Interesting…"

"Don't give me that face," I pointed at him. "Or I will retract my gift. Don't think I won't do it!" Ciel glared at me and I got a glimpse of the child that he was underneath that cold, adult exterior. "I'm kidding!"

"Why, Thalia…" I froze at Sebastian's voice, and then turned around slowly. The butler was holding up the snow-white cat with the red shape on its chest with an amused smile on his face. I feel like that might be his default expression: amused with a slight hint of mockery. "I had no idea you wanted me to consider you as my kitten."

Ciel snorted and choked on air. "I think that's my cue to leave…" he gathered up his presents and made a hurried exit.

"Please don't leave me!" I tried to reach for him, but a hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me backwards. "Shit…" I twisted around and tried to glare at Sebastian, but it is pretty difficult to come off as sufficiently threatening when you look like a cherry tomato with a face.

Sebastian smiled down at me. "Where are you going Thalia?" He asked, and his smile got wider. "I haven't even thanked you properly for your gift…"

_Oh shit…_

oOo

Sebastian has a very lecherous idea of what it means to thank someone. It wasn't until I threatened not to give him his other Christmas present that he released me. At least I knew he'd like it. Heck, he'd love it! And if he liked it, then that was great for me. You know, as long as he didn't try to 'thank' me again.

At that moment, I was leading Sebastian to the shed where the kittens were. In order to make sure that the surprise wouldn't be ruined too quickly, I had blindfolded him with the ribbon I used to tie the top of my braid. "Thalia?"

"Hush."

"Thalia?"

"_Hush!_"

"Darling?"

"Hush, wait, what the hell?" I stopped walking and glared at him. even though he couldn't see my glare, he still smiled like he could sense it. "Just be quiet already! We're almost there anyway." I directed him to the front of the shed, and pushed the wooden door open. "Morgan?"

My cat mewled quietly. Sebastian perked up at the sound. Morgan uncurled her body from around her kittens and they let out smaller mews. I deftly pulled off the ribbon from around Sebastian's head.

His eyes were wide, and he was nearly sparkling with sheer, repressed excitement. "Merry Christmas!" I knelt down beside Morgan. "She had them a few weeks ago, I think. Because it is Christmas, I will allow you to claim _one_ for yourself. The rest we are going to have to sell, or something."

Sebastian frowned and knelt down beside me. "Is that necessary?"

I shrugged and nodded. "Ciel won't let _all_ of them into the house, and if we don't, they'll just run away when they get old enough." I didn't want to sell them either, but it was the next best thing. "So, come on," I gestured to the four kittens curled up near Morgan. "Pick one."

For Sebastian, that seemed like a really tough decision make. In the end, he chose a black female with white mittens, a white muzzle, and a white-tipped tail. He called her Minthe (one of Hade's consorts in Greek mythology) after the colour of her eyes*. "Thank you, Thalia."

I shifted away from him just a tad, but I still smiled at him anyway. I scratched behind Morgan's head gently. "You're welcome Sebastian."

**No One's POV**

Ciel liked Thalia, he really did. He wouldn't deny that he did enjoy the company of the girl. She was kind and protective, and a definite change from Sebastian. It was nice to have someone who was with him for absolutely no other reason than because she wanted to.

So therefore it could not be said that what he was planning to do was out of hate or spite. No, in fact, it was just simple, childish fun.

Ciel smirked down at the wonderfully life-like model manor in his study. Three model soldiers were hiding close to the door of what looked to be a cupboard and, standing right beside the cupboard, were two porcelain cats. One was black, like ink or oil. The other was completely white.

oOo

"Remind me why Ciel wants us to clear out one of the cupboards _now_?" I asked Sebastian. "It's Christmas! It's a holiday! Why are we doing housework when everyone else gets a day of doing whatever?"

Sebastian arched an eyebrow at me. "I thought you didn't _want_ a day off?"

"I don't," I huffed. "I just don't want to do housework and chores either." We both stopped in front of the cupboard in question. "Let's get this over with, Sebastian. Sebastian?" I repeated his name when he didn't respond. When I looked up, he seemed to be studying something down the hall, but I couldn't see anything. "Uh, what are you looking at?"

He blinked, and then he smiled. "Nothing, dear Thalia. Shall we begin?" _Those words sound familiar_. I pushed the door of the hall cupboard open and peered into the dark interior.

"Wait," I blinked to allow my eyes to get used to the sudden lack of light. "Why is it empty? And not only is it empty, it's already clean!" I eyed the dusted shelves and the cleanly swept floors.

Sebastian leaned over my head to look inside as well. I took a step forward to avoid my back being so closely pressed against his front. "I suppose I must have already cleared out this cupboard already," he commented. "How unfortunate."

Before I could even ask how that was unfortunate, the door of the cupboard suddenly slammed shut, sending us into darkness. I whirled around and bumped into a warm, solid body. "What the-? Sebastian, what did you do?" My eyes were slowly getting used to the incomplete darkness, and I could see his shadowy silhouette in front of me.

"Absolutely nothing, dear Thalia," he replied smoothly. "Clearly someone must have shut us inside."

"Someone?" I repeated. "But there's no one else here except…_Ciel._" I scowled at the door, and tried to make the heat of my projected anger burn through the door. "CIEL, OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

From behind the door, I heard him speak. "I regret that I cannot do that," he replied. "Not until you have done what needs doing."

"What needs…what?" What was he talking about? Sebastian tapped my shoulder "What?" I turned to him. He pointed upwards and I followed the direction his fingers were pointing.

_Oh…oh my…_

Mistletoe. Someone (probably Ciel, or Bard, or both) had pasted _mistletoe_ to the ceiling of the room. _No one_ sticks mistletoe in a _cupboard_, so that had to mean one thing: this was planned. "CIEL!"

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Sebastian, I order you to not open that door before I return. And also, remember my _other_ order." I heard the steady, but hurried click of someone walking away very quickly.

I turned around and glared up at the butler. "You aren't really going to do this, right?" I asked him, half-pleadingly. "Help me open the door!"

He shrugged, but he didn't look all that apologetic. "Unfortunately, I cannot disobey my master once he gives me an order. And also…" he suddenly moved closer to me, and I suddenly realised just how _tiny_ the cupboard actually was. "_I don't want to._"

**(Quick note from me: You know, I was actually considering ending the chapter here because I was feeling troll-like, but then I decided not to since a lot of people are already threatening to kill me if the two of them don't kiss. Therefore, I decided not to. Enjoy!)**

I stared up at Sebastian silently, stunned at the husky, seductive tone of his voice. "W-what?" I tried to force myself to snap out of it. "What do you mean you don't want to? It's just a plant, you know. We don't have to pay attention to it."

"Mmm," he kept coming closer to me. "Maybe I _want_ to pay attention to it. I must say, this little tradition that humans have is quite lovely." A hand brushed against my right cheek. I tried to move my head away, but he gripped my chin and forced me to keep my head in place.

I winced. "Sebastian…"

An arm wound its way around my waist. "Am I scaring you?" He whispered. I shook my head furiously, more out of defiance than actual honesty. "You're lying, Thalia…" he took his hand away from my chin and trailed a finger down my throat. "I can feel your pulse right here," his finger stopped at a point at the side of my neck. "It's fast. You're blushing," he commented. "How beautiful."

The whole thing was scary but sensual. I couldn't help being scared. I had never been so close to a man before, let alone a man I actually _liked_. Like the most charming of men, Sebastian was dangerous. I should have been screaming or panicking, instead I could feel my heart pounding as my body responded to his touch.

"Sebastian…"

He arched an eyebrow. His fingers trailed to my chin. I flushed and closed my eyes as he tilted my face up to his and leaned closer to me. "I only have ten minutes," he smirked wolfishly. "And I want to savour every second of this."

His name was barely out of my mouth again when his lips covered mine in a kiss that stunned my entire body. My eyes widened, and I make a shocked sound somewhere at the back of my throat. I felt him smile against my mouth and pull back just enough to let me see that his eyes had started to glow. "Sebastian…?"

He licked his lips, like he was savouring the flavour of something wonderful. "You…" his eyes fixed on my lips. "…taste _magnificent_." And then he descended once more. The hand that had been at my neck slid down to wrap around my waist. His body pushed closer to mine and I felt one of his legs slip between mine, pinning me to the wall of the cupboard.

_Why does this feel so good?_ He was just kissing me. I had always thought that kisses were simply two lips meeting, a simple caress, but this…this was so much more. My eyes slipped shut and I made a sound somewhere in the back of my throat. I felt a warm hand at my cheek, and I gasped when something licked at my bottom lip.

Sebastian was fast. Before I could respond, I felt his tongue slide between my lips and I promptly went limp in his arms. I had always considered the act of French kissing to be disgusting (why would you willingly choose to swap tongue and saliva with another human being?), but this was _electric_. I couldn't think of another way to describe it. The second his tongue touched mine, I felt something jolt inside me.

My hands came up of their own accord and wrapped around Sebastian's neck. He chuckled quietly, and bit down on my bottom lip softly. "So delicious, so responsive," he murmured. "I wonder…"

I opened my eyes when he pulled away, and then they shut again when I felt something warm and wet sliding over the beginning of my neck. "Ah, S-Sebastian!" The buttons holding the collar of my dress popped open and the fabric slid down, and then he was licking at the expanse of my throat. "N-no, stop it!"

"Mmm," he nipped at my throat. "Is that what you really want, Thalia?" He asked me softly, seductively, mouthing the words against my skin. "Your skin is warm, and I can feel your heart beating quickly…" he moved and pressed a kiss to my neck, and I felt jolt of electricity go through me. "Hmm, so it's that sensitive?"

"I don't…" I squeezed my eyes shut, suddenly feeling upset. My first kiss, and how was he making me feel so…undone? I hated it, but I still loved it. I didn't want to be taken advantage of. "Stop it," I forced my voice not to tremble. I felt him pause. "Stop it. Leave me alone."

He paused, and then I felt hands cup my face with more tenderness than I had ever expected. Slowly, he forced me to look at him. "Thalia?"

_Don't say my name like that. _I couldn't look him in the eye. I pressed my face into the fabric of his jacket. My words came out muffled. "I hate you, you know that?" I told him. "How dare you make me feel like this? I should hit you for this."

I felt his laughter reverberate through his chest, and then the door of the room opened. We both looked up, and I was so ready to yell at Ciel that I was almost confused when I saw Bard's face. He also looked surprised to see us, and then his stunned expression turned to one of amusement.

"Ha, I knew the two of you were kissing!"

**THERE, ARE YOU ALL HAPPY NOW? I DID A KISS SCENE *throws chapter at you with aggressive love*. This took a while to do, honestly, because I got stuck at several parts while typing up the dialogue between the characters, but I finally did it! **

***In Greek Mythology, Minthe was one of the women Hades had a love affair with after he married Persephone. Long story short, his wife found out, got hella mad, and promptly trampled Minthe into the earth (because that's what she felt like doing). From that spot grew a, you guessed it, mint plant. Wow Mythology is strange… **

**Basically, I was saying that the cat's eyes were green, not that I wanted it to get trampled into the ground! I love cats!**

**Review!**


	22. Circus Acts

**Yokay! I'm back, and I've been reading the manga since I got a lot of reviews and PMs telling me to (apparently the hole Alois and Claude thing was just something cooked up by the producers when they ran out of material to work with).**

**According to the manga, the Circus arc comes after the Curry arc (so thank you to everyone who told me so) so I'll keep it the way it was before. Thank you everyone, especially to everyone who sent me such encouraging reviews and PMs. It makes me feel so happy and connected to all of you through this story. **

**I own nothing! Except Thalia, of course. **

**Circus Acts**

January was passing by rather quickly, although it was still just as cold as December. It had stopped snowing so hard and heavily at any rate. I couldn't wait until spring came around, and then I could start spending more time outside.

I had seen Mey-Rin with her nose in the book I'd gotten her many times. I wondered if it was a good idea to give her something like that, what with her already semi-lecherous mind, but she seemed to like it. Finny was also rather attached to his scarf, which he wore all the time (even when he was inside the house, but it was cold enough to excuse that).

As for Bard...well, let's just say that there had been more explosions in the mansion than before. Luckily, Bard didn't rat me out, but I had a feeling Sebastian already knew who the culprit was.

As for Sebastian...I had been avoiding him more than ever before, and when I couldn't avoid him, I did my utmost best to ignore him. What? You can't have someone corner you in a dark room, kiss you entirely senseless, and then walk around as though nothing happened!

It was awkward, alright? Extremely so. Every time I saw Sebastian, my mind immediately flashed back to the way he smiled at me, the way his eyes glowed for a second before he kissed me, the way his hands felt on my waist, the small of my back.

_The warm solidness of his body against mine, the rough but tender way he held me, the phantom memory of his lips teasing my skin..._

I shook my head furiously to clear the thoughts from my mind. Gah, see? And he wasn't even here. I'm pretty virginal. Love, sex, and the opposite sex have never really been at the forefront in my mind. Other things were such as, you know, money, survival, and my next meal. And it really didn't help that all the men I had known before were lecherous perverts and/or inebriated old men. Sebastian was neither (well, he was a lecherous pervert, but not in the same way) and I just didn't know how to cope.

_Life was easier before all of this,_ I sighed as I folded and placed the last of Ciel's clothes into his suitcase and snapped it shut. The young earl had just received another letter from the queen which required us to leave for London. As always, he had chosen Sebastian and me to accompany him. Sebastian, for obvious reasons, and me...because I was special and he loved me underneath all his yelling.

I had forgiven Ciel for the whole mistletoe trick. How could I not? He was cute. I hadn't forgiven Sebastian, but then he wasn't as cute.

Sebastian placed the suitcases inside the carriage and, after a short goodbye to the other servants, the carriage began to roll away from the house. As usual, I was forced to sit next to Sebastian, and I chose to focus my attention on the scenery outside the window. However, I watched Ciel out of the corner of my gaze as he read the queen's letter again.

From what I had been told, it was about a travelling circus known as the Noah's Ark Circus. They seemed fairly normal for any circus, but according to reports from various sources and the Yard, a large number of little children disappeared from every town they performed in.

Enter, The Queen's Guard Dog. Ciel, apparently done with the letter, slipped it into his coat pocket. I turned my face to him fully now. "Well, my lord," Sebastian smiled. "Where will you go first?"

"Hmm," Ciel hummed thoughtfully. "First of all, I suppose we should take a look at what the Yard has found."

I arched an eyebrow and crossed one leg over the other. "They aren't just going to let us waltz right in and take whatever information we need," I said. "Especially us. The Yard doesn't like us." _And they have really good reason not to._

"And that's why we're not going to walk right in," Ciel smirked.

We didn't. Sebastian got us into the Yard's file room by jumping through the third floor window. We weren't the only ones in there, however, but Ciel took little notice of the officer already inside. "It is rather convenient that Sir Arthur is out," he commented.

"Please, stop!" The man pleaded. "If the commissioner were to find out...!"

"Just make sure he doesn't then," Ciel cut him off. I stood beside Ciel with my hands behind my back while Sebastian searched the shelves for something useful regarding the case.

"This is the third floor!" The man cried, wringing his hands agitatedly. "How did you even get in here?"

"That's none of your concern," I replied shortly. _You wouldn't believe us anyway._

"Sebastian," Ciel spoke to the butler, choosing to ignore the man even further. "Have you found anything?"

Sebastian stood up with the file he had been reading. "No bodies have been found which match the missing children," he reported.

Ciel nodded. "We'll leave when you're finished copying the files," he said. "And we might as well borrow the pictures too. They might come in useful."

"You can't do that!" _Poor guy, _I smiled a bit. _This is clearly way above your rank and paycheck._ He obviously had little to no idea who Ciel was, or he didn't know just how important the Phantomhive Earl was.

I patted him on the shoulder consolingly. "If Sir Randall asks, just say the Phantomhives were here. He won't get angry. Well," I amended. "He won't get angry with _you_."

"Yes he will!" He yelled. "I'll just get in even more trouble!"

Ciel sighed quietly from where he was flipping through the report. "Listen...Underline, was it?"

"Abberline!"

"Yes, you've been a great help," Ciel continued. "We appreciate your cooperation." As he spoke, Sebastian came forward and dropped several coins into the man's hand. _Are we seriously trying to bribe the law?_ I stared at Ciel blankly. That was not the approach to use with someone like Abberline. Some police officers were blindly corrupt, but Abberline was obviously the moral, upright sort.

My deduction was proven right by his reaction. He grabbed Sebastian's wrist and shoved the coins back at him. "I'm not for sale!" He yelled. "I just want to do whatever I can to bring those children home safely!"

Ciel smirked as he walked past Abberline. "'_Whatever it takes_'huh?" He repeated. I followed him out of the room. "Very flexible of you. You have such a bright future." While Abberline was distracted, Sebastian placed a mop into the hand that had previously held the coins.

"H-hey!"

"Hurry up and get yourself promoted," Ciel called back, and Sebastian shut the door on the man's shocked face.

_We are such awful people, aren't we?_ "None of the children have been found so far," I said to Ciel. "But the Yard is still treating them as _Missing Persons_."

"By respectable society, perhaps," Ciel said. _No one wants to believe that they're dead._ "However, someone in the underworld society may have already disposed of them." _Could we not talk about them like they're commodities? _I thought as we climbed into the carriage. _They are children, just like you._

Sebastian climbed in last. "Does this mean we'll be visiting _him_ again?" _Him?_

Ciel exhaled loudly. "I'd really rather not," he muttered. "But our current situation does merit a visit," he tapped the roof with his walking stick and the carriage clattered off.

It turned out that the _him_ in question was actually the Undertaker, my favourite (and only) mortician. I hadn't seen him since the Frost Fair. The carriage rolled up to his storefront and the three of us climbed out. I ignored Sebastian's proffered hand and jumped down from the carriage on my own.

Ciel didn't bother knocking on the door. "Undertaker," he pushed the door open to reveal a dark, candlelit room with coffins on the ground. _Are those empty?_ The room smelled like formaldehyde and something else sharp and slightly fragrant. "Undertaker, are you here?" We walked further into the room and the door swung shut behind us.

More candles blazed to life, forming a sort of runway, and a peal of familiar laughter came from the end. "Welcome my lord," Undertaker giggled. Something rolled down the candle-made corridor. Ciel jumped to the side to avoid it, and it knocked against my feet. It was a polished white skull. I bent over and picked it up curiously.

The empty eye sockets gazed back at me. _Ah, Horatio, I knew him well._ I snickered quietly.

"Is today the day you'll consent to enter one of my special coffins?" The Undertaker's voice suddenly seemed to come from behind us. I turned and saw him climbing down from a table.

I held out the skull. "Uh...you dropped this."

He giggled and took the skull with one hand. The other hand he used to pat me on the head. "And you even brought the maid!" He snickered and shifted off with his skull. "Please, have a seat. I have a batch of cookies straight from the oven."

"No thank you," Ciel replied firmly. As there were no chairs anywhere that we could see, Ciel and I took seats on the coffins while Sebastian explained the case to him and the reason for our visit.

"Children's bodies?" The Undertaker hummed liltingly over a plate of bone-shaped cookies. I was chewing one happily, although I could see Ciel staring at me with mild disgust. They were pretty good though. Although they all looked the same, a few had chocolate and some had ginger. The only odd thing about them was that they reminded me of dog biscuits.

"Regular society regards them as simply missing," Sebastian told him. "And no corpses have turned up."

"Well," Undertaker shrugged. "Dead children are an everyday affair in the Underworld," he took a bite of his cookie. "I'm sure you know that very well, my lord."

Ciel got to his feet calmly. "I've brought their information," he said curtly. "Did you take care of any of these children?" Sebastian placed the thick sheaf of papers with the children's information in front of the Undertaker.

The grey-haired man eyed the papers. Well, I think he eyed them. I couldn't see his face, just his nose and mouth, but I assume he was staring at them (although I wasn't sure how he was able to see through his thick fringe of hair). "Hmm, did I~?" He sang thoughtfully, still grinning. "I feel that I would be able to remember if I saw something entertaining..."

_Oh yeah, we have to make him laugh. _I didn't quite get that though, but if that was what was wanted then that shouldn't be too hard.

"You know what I want, my lord~," The Undertaker crooned teasingly. He crawled to the edge of the table and rolled onto his back like an overexcited child. _A really creepy, large overexcited child, _I grinned. "Give me a prime laugh, and I'll tell you what you want to know~!"

Ciel grimaced. "Very well, Sebastian…!"

"Oh~?" The Undertaker grinned and sat up. "You're relying on him? Aren't you able to do anything without your butler, earl?" A tick mark appeared on Ciel's head. I wanted to tell him to calm down, that Undertaker was just taunting him, but I wanted to see where all of this was going. "Well, anyone entertaining enough will do, really…"

Ciel gritted his teeth. "Alright, fine! I'll do it!"

Sebastian and I blinked down at Ciel curiously. "Really?" _You are rather easy to taunt sometimes, aren't you?_

Ciel suddenly whirled around to point at the two of us. "Both of you, get out!" He snapped. "And do _not_ peek inside! That is an order!"

"Alright, alright," I held up my hands in a placating manner. Sebastian and walked outside and the door of the mortuary slammed shut behind us. _Alright, this should be fine. As long as I don't look at him, or speak to him, I should be alright. _Maybe I was taking the whole situation a bit too far, but I didn't know how else to behave! Should I bring it up? Should I act as I did before? Should I just pretend as though it had never happened?

I was sure that the whole thing had just been a game to him. A trick. A ploy. Whatever had happened clearly hadn't meant much to him. Excluding Mey-Rin, I was the only other female in the house (although he clearly hadn't been molesting Mey-Rin, not that she would have minded if he had).

_Besides, _I stared at the Undertaker's door, _how long could it possibly take to make that guy laugh?_

An hour passed, and with barely a sound from inside the mortuary. I sweatdropped and spoke out loud. "What the heck is he doing in there anyway?" I wondered to myself.

"Who knows?" Sebastian replied. Those were the first words he had said to me all day. I winced and cursed myself for speaking, and then I tugged on my braid nervously to avoid his gaze. "Thalia…are you scared of me?"

I shot him a quick glance, and then looked away. "No," I folded my arms across my chest, not noticing the defensive posture I had unwittingly adopted. "I'm not scared of you. Why would you think that?"

He held up his hands in a half shrug. "Well, your behaviour says the opposite. You've been shying away from me like a frightened kitten." I made a sound that was halfway like an angry growl and an embarrassed squeak. "What's the matter, dear Thalia?" He suddenly leaned closer, forcing me to take a step backwards. "Did I frighten you that day?" He murmured lowly. "Or is it something else? Is it that you've never been touched by a man?"

I gasped, not just because he had hit the proverbial nail on its proverbial head, but also because his hands had suddenly gripped me around the waist. I don't know if it's because my waist is small, or his hands are just big, but his hands went nearly around my body.

"Sebastian, what are you doing-!?" He suddenly pulled me against himself. The Undertaker's shop was rather isolated, and not even facing the streets properly. And, as it was still rather early in the day, no one was really around to see us.

I lowered my face to the black fabric of his coat, and felt lips against my forehead. "Thalia?"

"Alright, fine!" I shoved him back as far as I could and glared up at him with all the confused anger I was feeling in my heart. "You're right, I've never had a man touch me, okay? I'd never even _kissed_ a man before you did, alright? Are you happy now?"

**No One's POV**

Sebastian was happy. Really happy. Really, _really_ happy. And also rather aroused. So his mate was still a virgin? A pure, untainted white canvas for him to cover with his essence. He could hardly wait for the moment when he could, but not right then. Probably not for a while, but he could wait. He could be patient.

He allowed her to rip herself free of his grip, but not to turn her back on him. Sebastian grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back against him. Thalia struggled, but she couldn't really bring herself to fight as much as she usually would. After a moment, she relaxed against him.

Sebastian chuckled inwardly, finding her confusion and bouts of calm affection just a tad bit amusing. She reminded him of a cat, and he loved cats. A strange feeling of…happiness, was it? Affection? Whatever it was, it swelled inside him and he relished the softness of her body against his. He inhaled the sweet scent of her body, of _her_.

_Mine._

oOo

After I finally got Sebastian to let go of me for the second time, I decided to forgive him for the whole mistletoe-closet thing. He had sort-of-but-not-quite apologised, so I decided to let it go and push the incident to the back of my mind.

In short, that just meant that I stopped ignoring him. I would have had to, anyway, since we ended up standing outside the Undertaker's shop for nearly the whole day before the familiar sound of a thousand hyenas cackling brayed forth from the shop. "Finally!" I jumped to my feet from where I had been sitting on a wooden crate by Sebastian's legs.

Sebastian pushed the door open, and the two of us stared at Ciel in surprise. The poor kid looked like he had been through a war. He was breathing heavily. His necktie was undone, his shirt was out, his hair was messed up and he was missing a shoe, which was over by one of the coffins. I went to fetch it.

At least the Undertaker was sated. "I never imagined that the Earl Phantomhive would go that far!" He cackled as he rolled back and forth over the top of his desk.

"What the hell did you do?" I wondered, kneeling down to place his shoe on his foot and do up the laces.

"Don't ask," Ciel grunted. I took a step back and stared at the madly giggling mortician.

"Still," Sebastian smiled as he began to redo Ciel's necktie. "If you're willing to put on a show for the queen's sake, then you really are a dog."

"Shut up," Ciel snapped. I reached out and yanked on a clump of Sebastian's hair for emphasis. _That was rather rude. _It didn't do much, and he just turned to me with a smirk on his face. "Alright, I've paid your stupid fee," he snapped as Sebastian helped him into his coat. "Now tell me about the children."

The mortician smiled. "The children," he said. "Are nowhere."

Ciel and Sebastian stared at him blankly. "Huh?"

I folded my arms across my chest. "Explain."

He held up a single sheaf from stack of paper. "None of them have been my customers," he expanded. "And there have been no rumours either."

"In other words," Ciel walked closer to the Undertaker. "You don't know anything?"

"I beg to differ," Undertaker replied enigmatically. "I know that I_ don't _know."

"True," Sebastian nodded. "If you don't know about them then that means that no one in the Underworld killed them."

"If their bodies haven't been found in either scene," Ciel deduced. "Then that means that they are still alive." This was good news, I hoped. "In that case, we should personally investigate that circus," he grabbed his walking stick and turned to walk out of the room. "Let's go, Thalia, Sebastian. Contact me if you hear anything, Undertaker."

I opened the door for Ciel, but the Undertaker suddenly spoke as we were about to leave. "My lord…" Ciel looked back at him. "Each of us only gets one soul," his voice suddenly dropped to an eerie whisper. "_Take good care of yours_."

"I know that," Ciel replied curtly. Sebastian shut the door, and I heard a quiet giggle echo in the air. _Do you really?_

oOo

I don't mind telling you that I was beyond excited that we were going to the circus. I had never been to one, but the ones I had read about in books sounded bright and exciting. I think I was the most excited person in the carriage, and I stopped trying to hide it once the large, blue and white tent came into view.

Sebastian stared down at me with amusement, while Ciel glared at me out of his uncovered eye. "Thalia, calm down!" He scolded me. "You're bouncing up and down like a child."

I stopped squirming for a moment and stuck my tongue out at him in a rare show of actual childishness. "Don't care," I smiled. "I've never been to a circus before, and they're supposed to be really fun! I can't help being just a little bit excited!"

There were so many lights, and people, and streamers and snacks that I couldn't wait to get out of the carriage. Unfortunately, even when we did get down, Ciel did not let me buy a snack. We joined the crowd of people milling towards the largest tent. "So this is it," Ciel murmured. We passed by a masked man in a padded, black and white checked costume juggling several colourful hoops. There were several stalls selling snacks, various odds and ends, and funny mirrors that warped your face when you looked into them.

There was a brightly lit carousel going round and round, another masked, costumed man juggling glass bottles, and a woman selling colourful balloons to little children. I kept getting sidetracked, so Sebastian had to grab my wrist so that they wouldn't lose me in the crowd.

Finally, we made our way into the main tent. "It is quite elaborate," Sebastian remarked. Ciel and I gazed up at the chandeliers that lit up the tent. For all his posturing, he was still fascinated by his surroundings. I could tell.

He hid it well though. "Yes, but no more so than any other circus." I took his hat and we sat down. Moments later, the lights dimmed one by one, ushering the beginning of the show. An expectant hush came over the crowd.

A single spotlight suddenly shone down on a man now standing in the middle of the ring. The man had orange, spiky hair, and his dressing was circus-like, but not gaudy or exceedingly colourful.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He bowed at the waist. I noticed that one of his hands was a skeleton. "Boys and girls! Welcome to the Noah's Ark Circus!" He was holding eight brightly coloured balls, which he proceeded to juggle deftly and with great skill. "My name is Joker. Pleased to meet 'ee."

As he said this, he 'clumsily' let the balls fall on him, to the amusement of the crowd. As I watched, he opened his mouth to reveal a blue ball, which he then enclosed in his skeletal hand. When he opened said hand, the ball had vanished entirely.

"His hand is fake," I pondered out loud. "What do you call that?"

"A prosthetic," Ciel replied to my question, his eyes still fixed on the stage.

"Tonight," Joker continued. "You will see performances to stun and amaze 'ee!" More spotlights suddenly came on, illuminating five other people in the ring. "And now, with a great broze from our fire-breathing Jumbo, the show of the century begins!"

A large, tattooed man rose up from behind him and blew a plume of fire from a lit stick. The crowd gasped and cheered excitedly as the lights came on again and the circus began.

The first act was the trapeze, performed by two artists with child-like appearances named Peter and Wendy. I couldn't help feeling awed as they swung to and fro across the ceiling, one occasionally releasing his or her swings and being caught by the other.

The second act was a knife-throwing act, which I watched with great interest. The performer was a blonde, cute-looking man with red dots painted on his cheeks called Dagger.

The third act was a snake dance, performed by a half-naked man Joker introduced as Snake. He looked thin, but not scarily so, with spiky white hair, and he was draped with poisonous snakes. I couldn't really see, but his skin also seemed to glitter with scales, or it could have just been his makeup.

"Their acts are fairly standard," Ciel commented. I tore my eyes away from the end of the snake dance to look at the boy beside me. _Cut it out, Thalia!_ I scolded myself. _You aren't here to gape at everything! Pay attention!_

"They don't seem to be forcing the children to perform either," Sebastian noted.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," Joker gestured with his prosthetic hand to the ceiling. "Look above 'ee!" Our eyes went up at the same time, to the length of rope strung across the ceiling, way above our heads. "Behold, a death-defying tightrope walk by the circus princess, Doll!"

The girl began her trip across the tightrope. She certainly looked the part of both a princess, and a doll. I couldn't tear my eyes away. "If they didn't intend to force the children to perform," Ciel said, also not looking away. "Then could the disappearance of the children just be a coincidence?"

"I doubt it," I said, and then gasped when the girl did a split on the rope, and then flipped herself backwards to stand on her hands. "It's too much of a coincidence."

And then, it was the final act. The woman standing in the centre of the ring was dressed rather scantily, but she carried herself with confidence. Behind her were several flaming rings, through which a tiger jumped through before coming to stand beside her. "Last, but not least, the star of our troupe!" The woman cracked her whip, and the tiger roared and lay at her feet. "I bring 'ee the famous tamer of wild cats, Beast!"

I clapped accordingly. "This has been entertaining," I murmured to Ciel. "But we haven't seen anything that could act as evidence against the circus."

Ciel nodded his agreement while Joker continued to speak. "We'd love some audience participation for this act," he said. "Are there any volunteers?"

"No children in the final act either," he said. "This was a waste of time."

I frowned, and then blinked when Sebastian suddenly stood up. He had been staring at the stage hard for quite some time now. "Uh, Sebastian?" I asked. "What is it?" He didn't answer me. I opened my mouth to repeat my question, but the circus's ringmaster had already spotted him.

"Oh? That gentleman in the tailcoat sure looks eager!" Joker grinned. "Please, come on stage!" The audience applauded as Sebastian began to walk towards the stage.

Ciel and I watched him go. _What is he doing?_ I stared at Sebastian. _Is he planning to make contact? How does he expect to do that in front of such a crowd?_ My eyes narrowed. _Maybe he has a plan of some kind._ That was possible, but I still couldn't help watching with some slight wariness.

Sebastian reached the edge of the ring and jumped into the sand-filled arena. Joker stepped forward. "Now, if you'll just lie down here..." Sebastian walked right past him without sparing the man a glance. "Huh?"

He walked past Beast as well, who was too stunned to stop him, and stopped right in front of the tiger. My eyes widened as Sebastian knelt down in front of it and proceeded to _pet_ it. "Ah, what lovely round eyes you have!"

Shocked murmurs rose up from the audience as e continued to coo at the large cat. "Oh dear," I covered my eyes with my hands and sighed. "I forgot that tigers also counted as cats." I didn't think Sebastian's love for cats stretched _that_ far! I thought it stopped at housecats and strays!

_I should learn not to assume anything when it comes to this guy._

"What soft ears..." There was an audible gasp from the audience as Sebastian continued to fondle the ears of the large (and probably highly confused) cat. "I've never seen such vivid stripes! They're adorable! Oh dear, your claws have gotten a bit too long," he tutted. "We'll have to trim them. But your paw pads are very full and plump! How attractive!"

_Why did he choose now to act like such a freak?_ Beside me, Ciel covered his face with his hands with quiet groan. _Does this really seem like the time to indulge your cat obsession?_

The tiger then decided to cope with its confusion by biting Sebastian's face, which was kind of what I would have done if I was in its position. The audience screamed in horror. "Betty, let him go!" Beast tried to whip the tiger to make it let go of Sebastian's face, but he caught the whip easily.

"She hasn't done anything wrong," Sebastian said. "I was so overcome by her charm that I behaved rudely, that's all. Also, indiscriminate whipping won't train her properly."

"He is the only person I know who would say that after a tiger tried to eat their face," I muttered, and then I raised my eyebrows in mild surprise as the tiger, having gotten nowhere with his face, proceeded to bite Sebastian on the head instead. "Oh dear."

Amidst the chaos, I could hear Beast berating the tiger angrily. "Betty, spit him out this instant! You don't know where he's been!"

_Well, Hell probably._

oOo

Joker finally managed to calm the crowd by acting like the whole thing was part of the show. Ciel was not pleased with Sebastian, at any rate. "I didn't tell you to go _that_ far!"

I giggled quietly. Sebastian looked very pleased with his encounter. "I apologise, my lord," he said. "I have lived many years but cats are such whimsical creatures. I still can't quite read their moods."

"And here we thought you actually had a plan of some sort," I folded my arms across my chest with a smile. "I should have known it was the cat that caught your eye, you freak." Sebastian just smiled cheerfully.

"Honestly," Ciel muttered under his breath. "What was the point of attracting such unnecessary attentio-!" He cut himself off with a sneeze, and then turned around to point his walking stick at Sebastian, forcing the butler to stop walking. "You know I'm allergic to cats!" He snapped. "Stay far back!" He continued walking. I stood beside Sebastian for a second, until he turned around. "Thalia!"

"Coming!" I jogged to catch up with him.

"Oh, there 'ee be!" I heard Joker's voice behind us. "You there, in the tailcoat!" Ciel and I turned into a shadowy corner, and then peered out. Sebastian stopped walking and waited for Joker to catch up to him. "I'm so sorry about what happened, sir," Joker apologised. "Gave me quite a scare, traipsing up to the tiger like that!"

Sebastian smiled charmingly. "No, I'm afraid the fault was all mine."

"We have a doctor in staff," Joker suggested. "Better let him have a look at 'ee, I reckon. Please come on back."

"Don't mind if I do."


	23. Circus Troupe

**Sometimes I hate being female. Specifically, every five days of every month I hate being female. Seriously, I get it, I'm not pregnant. Mother Nature can take her stupid gift and leave.**

**Thalia: ...well someone's upset**

**Me: You're damn right I am! *shoves an entire bar of chocolate into my mouth* anyway, I don't own Kuroshitsuji! Just Thalia and her tragic backstory**

**Circus Troupe**

Ciel and I watched as Sebastian walked off with Joker. "Is this alright?" I asked him as we made our way back to the parked carriage. "What if he does something he isn't supposed to?"

The earl sighed quietly. "Sebastian knows what he's supposed to do," he replied. "I doubt he'll do anything silly."

I arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, just like he was _supposed_ to play with a tiger?" I replied sarcastically.

Ciel shot me a glare. I smiled at him and opened the door of the carriage for him to get in, and then slid in after he had. We sat in silence for a few minutes, Ciel absorbed in his own thoughts about the case. I was thinking about all the acts we had seen and how much fun circuses were and whether I'd ever see another one again.

"Now that Sebastian isn't here, I can finally ask you something that's been on my mind…" I came out of my thoughts and blinked. Ciel suddenly smirked at me and leaned forward. "How are you and Sebastian getting along?"

_Is this about the mistletoe thing? Because I only just calmed myself down about that. _"Fine…?" I answered carefully, crossing one leg over the other. I folded my arms across chest and stared back at Ciel warily. "I mean…what else am I supposed to say?" Ciel arched an eyebrow at me. "What?"

He shrugged, leaning back against the seat of the carriage. "Well, the two of you did look rather…heated at Christmas," he said. I sputtered at his choice of phrasing. "I was just wondering if anything else had happened between the two of you."

"Hey, do you want me revoke my forgiveness?" I scowled at the boy opposite me. "And _nothing_ else has happened between us." Lies. "And even if anything had, you are far too young to know about these things."

Ciel glared back at me. "I _am_ your master," he pointed out. "I could always order you to tell me."

"I don't have to do what you tell me!" I smirked at him smugly. "I'm not Sebastian. A woman must always have her secrets, right? Consider this one of mine." Along with the other hundred and one that I haven't told you.

One by one, the carriages around us left as more people left the circus grounds for home. I wondered what was taking Sebastian so long. He hadn't been hurt by the tiger, so what was he doing? "Still," Ciel spoke again. "You and Sebastian did spend quite a lot of time together when I sent both of you out of the Undertaker's shop." I froze, and Ciel arched an eyebrow tauntingly. "So something did happen, I take it?"

Why was this kid so persistent in wanting to know? "Nothing happened between us!" I burst out, just as the door of the carriage opened and Sebastian appeared. "Damn," I snarled at his smirking face with embarrassed anger. I grabbed the lapels of his coat. "Quick, how much of the conversation did you hear?"

He smirked down at me. "The last minute of it." I released him with a frustrated groan and scrambled as far away from him as the carriage allowed. "I don't know why you insist on lying to the young master," Sebastian continued. "Especially after you and I-!"

"SHUT UP!" I leaped at him, and Sebastian held me back easily by my wrists while I clawed at the air in front of his face futilely. "Why can't I kill you?" I yelled. "Can I at least punch you in the face?" Ciel tapped the ceiling of the carriage, which rattled off with a jolt.

"You two, stop it!" Ciel snapped. "Thalia, sit down, now." I pulled away from Sebastian and settled down on the plush carriage seat, grumbling under my breath about perverts and demons with hearing that was too good. Sebastian smirked beside me. Apparently he had heard my mutterings. "Sebastian, what did you find out?"

In spite of my annoyance, I couldn't help being intrigued in what he had to say. I stopped scowling and twisted my body around to face him. Sebastian sighed regretfully. "I'm afraid I was interrupted before I could make a full circuit of the circus camp," he reported. "I'd like to penetrate a bit deeper into their organization, but I have a request for you and Thalia in that aspect…"

_A request?_ I blinked at Sebastian curiously. "What kind of request?" I asked. He just smiled.

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Yes!"

"_No!_"

The two differing opinions you read above were the responses Ciel and I had to Sebastian's request. I'm sure you can tell who had which response.

We reached the town house late at night, and Sebastian pushed the door of the large house open. "But, my lord…" he tried.

"Why did that suddenly become the plan?" Ciel yelled, cutting him off angrily. I caught his hat when he tossed it at us. "I never ordered you do something like that!"

I handed the hat to Sebastian, as I had no idea what to do with it, but kept hold of Ciel's walking stick because I liked holding it. "Does it inconvenience you, my lord?" Sebastian asked with a mocking smile.

Ciel gritted his teeth and glared at Sebastian, and then sighed. "We'll argue about it later," he grunted. "I'm exhausted and I want to go straight to bed."

"Uh, of course young master," I cocked my head to the side curiously. "But, don't you remember…?"

As though on cue, a door flew open to the side of the room and Prince Soma appeared. "Ciel!" The young prince beamed widely like the child he so un-obviously wasn't. "Ciel, I'm so glad you're here! I've been waiting and waiting for you for hours!"

Agni appeared behind him. "Welcome home, Lord Phantomhive, Thalia, Sebastian," he bowed with his palms pressed together.

Ciel exhaled an irritated huff through his nose. "Oh right," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I forgot you were here." Ciel hadn't wanted Soma around in the country house, forever running after him and wanting to play around, and so he had tricked the young Indian prince into occupying the town house.

I had to admit, Soma had recovered quite well from the whole Meena incident. According to Agni, he spent a lot of time reading in the library, and had become less of a spoiled brat, and more considerate of the needs of others, which is a good thing to be even if you aren't a prince.

Soma leaped and engulfed Ciel in a huge hug. "It's been too long, Ciel!" He grinned, cuddling the struggling boy. "How have you been? What have you been doing?"

Sebastian and I mimicked Agni's greeting pose. "_Namaste_ everyone," Sebastian smiled. Agni is the only other human (excluding Ciel and, in some cases, me) I've ever seen Sebastian treat with genuine respect. Agni is like his polar opposite in nearly every way, both in looks and morals. Still, Agni had chosen to call Sebastian a friend, and Sebastian had accepted the title.

"Hello everyone!" I waved cheerfully at them. "It's so good to see you all!"

Soma beamed when he saw me. "Thalia!" He had a hug for me too, which I accepted with no struggles, unlike Ciel, but he didn't come near Sebastian. The butler still terrified him greatly. "I'm so glad you're here! I didn't expect you at the town house so early! Did you miss me that much? Poor lonely Ciel!"

Ciel was clearly not in the mood for dealing with Soma at the moment. "Sorry, but I'm tired," he said shortly, making his way to the stairs. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"What?" Soma whined, grabbing onto Ciel's shoulders. "But I was so excited! I've been wanting to challenge you to that chess game of yours! Don't you care about dashing my hopes?" Well, like I said, he was still a child.

And Ciel was, apparently, the angry and grumpy adult. "No, I don't," he pulled himself away from the prince and continued walking.

_Ciel, calm down. _"What's the matter, Ciel?" Soma asked. "You look so grumpy! It's been a while since we last saw each other, so you should at least smile a bit!" _The young master does not smile, unless something is going according to plan or one of his enemies is being disembowelled. Most of the time he just smirks._

I winced when Ciel, growing weary and annoyed with Soma's complaints, turned around and yelled at him. "Shut up! I said I'm tired, so keep quiet and leave me alone!" He stormed up the stairs, leaving a shocked, sad and disappointed prince behind.

"You won't attract good fortune if you don't smile, you know," Soma called after him. I sighed and Agni patted him on the shoulder consolingly.

"I apologise on the young master's behalf," I smiled at the prince comfortingly. "The young master has had a rather long day, and is very exhausted." Lies. Or it could be a half-truth. We'd had a long day. For all I knew, Ciel really could be tired.

Sebastian and I followed Ciel up the stairs. I knew I wasn't allowed into Ciel's room unless he asked, and he hadn't, so I handed the black walking stick to Sebastian. Before he went inside, though, I placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "Will you be able to convince him to do this?" I asked Sebastian curiously.

Sebastian nodded with a smile. "Of course, dear Thalia. I am one hell of a butler."

I huffed and folded my arms across my chest. "I really hate it when you say that," I turned to walk in the direction of my bedroom. "Goodnight, Sebastian. Tell Ciel I said goodnight as well." I could sense his gaze on my back up until I turned a corner and broke the connection. As soon as I did, I let my back fall against the wall and I exhaled a breath.

Whatever was happening with me regarding Sebastian, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help wanting to be close to him. Yet, whenever he touched me, I reacted by hissing, yelling, snarling or simply blushing and running away. Kind of like a cat. He had compared me to a cat before, hadn't he?

_I wish I knew what was going on,_ I thought as I stripped and changed for bed. _Do I like him? Am I just attracted to him because he happens to be rather good-looking? No, I have been around good-looking people before, and I've always managed to kick them to the curb when needed._

_So what is going on with me?_ I reached up and scratched the back of my neck absentmindedly, and then I released a puff of air. "Oh well," I climbed into my bed and closed my eyes. "I'll think about it later."

I fell asleep and dreamed of colourful tents, masked figures juggling hoops and balls, and a woman in red making her way across a tightrope.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian did manage to convince Ciel to agree to join the circus. I found some old clothes that Finny had given to me for him to wear, as he obviously couldn't go in looking like a tiny nobleman. The clothes were a bit big on him, but with some snips and tucks I managed to make them fit alright. We even found a different bandage for his eye.

The circus looked so different in the morning. It seemed less magical, and more normal and homey in a way. I still couldn't help being fascinated by everything I saw. There were so many circus folk around, some practicing their acts, some doing menial tasks, and a few were just lazing. They watched us with curiousity as Sebastian led us to Joker's tent.

By the time we reached it, we had amassed quite a crowd of curious performers. The orange-haired man was standing outside the tent conversing with the blonde, knife-throwing man. What was his name? Oh yeah, Dagger.

"Joker?" Sebastian called, drawing his attention to us. "I've brought the people I mentioned to you."

Joker looked up from his conversation and stared at Ciel. "What a lovely little tacker!" He cooed. "A boy, I reckon?"

"Yes," Ciel replied. "I've been in service as a pageboy." I had to admit, he was good at thinking on his feet. The only problem was that he hadn't managed to hide his high-class, nobleperson way of speaking. Oh well, I was sure he'd be able to give an excuse for it somehow. "My name is uh...Finnian."

"That's an imposing name," Joker grinned, and then he turned to me. "What about you, pretty girl?"

"My name is Thalia," I smiled at the compliment. My hair was still up in a ponytail, but I had loosened my braid so that the red at the bottom could be seen. I could sense the curious stares of the people behind me trying to deduce if my hair was dyed or natural.

"Finnian and Thalia," Joker repeated. "Well, we'll give 'ee stage names if 'ee pass. Still, being adorable and pretty won't get thee through the circus." I folded my arms across my chest and noticed that Sebastian had already been accosted by several circus women gazing up at him with rapt adoration. _Can you not go a minute in public without having things like that happen to you?_ "We must do tricks too!" I turned back to what Joker was saying. "What are your specialities?"

"Well, darts I suppose," Ciel said.

"Same," I shrugged. "Although I've been told that I'm also really good with animals." I liked animals, and I had been able to manage Pluto pretty well without having to terrify or bribe him into submission, and without being a demon, so that had to count for something.

Joker scratched his chin thoughtfully. "We'll see what we can do for the animal part. As for darts...that'll be knife throwing I suppose. Dagger, give them some knives!" Several knives were dropped into our hands. They were about the same weight and make as the knives Sebastian had gotten for me. "Ladies first," Joker gestured to the target, which was a good five or so metres away.

Ciel's eyes widened when he realised that he too would have to attempt it. I ignored him and threw the knives, aiming for the red dot in the centre. Thanks to Sebastian's present, I had managed to brush up on my knife skills in the past weeks. None of my knives landed more than two inches from the centre.

Dagger whistled and came to stand beside me. "Whoo, nice going!" He congratulated me, throwing a friendly arm over my shoulders. "You're very good at this, aren't you?" I couldn't help smiling happily at the praise, but out of the corner of my eyes I could see that Sebastian had _stopped_ smiling at his adoring assembly and was now staring at us rather pointedly.

It was now Ciel's turn. Joker yanked my knives out of the target and dropped them into Ciel's hands. The young boy arranged himself, took a deep breath, and then threw the knife. I could already tell from the way that it was spinning that it was a flop. It wasn't even going to reach the target.

Just as the knife was going to hit the ground, it suddenly shot up (effectively defying the laws of both gravity and common sense) and hit the target right in the bull's-eye.

Obviously Sebastian had something to do with this. Dagger let go of me in his shock, and I glanced back at Sebastian. He didn't look like he was doing anything...

Ciel threw another dagger, and a movement by the butler's waist caught my eye. Were those...rocks? Wait, was he _flicking_ those rocks? Was that why the daggers weren't falling?

Another dagger, another flick of his thumb. I felt my left eye twitch a bit. _What manner of aim is that!? How does that even happen? _Sebastian caught my gaze, and just smirked. He flicked another rock, and another dagger went flying into the target. Ciel was becoming rather confident now, even throwing two at a time. _I wonder why no one is questioning the complete impossibility of this._

Finally, all the daggers were lodged into the target and Ciel looked smug. "Will that be all?"

I really hoped he knew that what had happened hadn't been him. At any rate, Joker did look impressed. "Well that is mighty fine control," he praised. I shot Sebastian a look and he just smiled back innocently. "You're more talented than I reckoned. However, the test isn't over yet."

Ciel and I blinked at him curiously. "It's not?" I asked.

Ten minutes later, Ciel was standing at the beginning of the tightrope. Sebastian and I were staring up at him from the ground. In spite of the safety rope being secured around his waist, I couldn't help feeling worried. Still, Sebastian was here. If anything happened, he'd save Ciel.

I glanced at him curiously, and noticed that he was dropping a handful of rocks into his suit pocket. "Why so many stones?"

He smiled. "You'll see," Sebastian replied simply.

"Doll, do that lifeline up tight!" Joker called up. "He's new and he'll be badly hurt if he falls!" _He will die if he falls!_

"Ciel, just try not to look down!" I yelled to him. I know that's the standard thing everyone tells you when you're standing way above the safety of the ground, but most of the time people don't listen when they're told such things.

I watched, heart in mouth, as Ciel started the long trip across the tightrope. He was doing alright, I supposed. His steps were a bit wobbly, but he still managed to keep his balance rather well. As he neared the centre, he suddenly seemed to lose his footing. "Ciel!"

He staggered left and right, and then pitched forward. Just as it seemed like he was about to fall...

_Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_

Something hit him with enough force on either side to knock him back into adequate equilibrium. I blinked several times, and then I stared at Sebastian with wide eyes. His thumb was still out. "Are you kidding me?" I hissed at him.

Sebastian flicked another stone. "It's working, isn't it?" It was, I had to admit. _Poor kid, _I watched as Sebastian continued to flicks stones hard enough to propel Ciel along the rope. _He's going to have so many bruises by the end of this._

"Amazing!" Joker clapped when Ciel finally got down, bruised, battered and breathing hard. "I didn't reckon you'd make it all the way across!" I had to nudge Sebastian hard to make him stop laughing. "Well, now we have one final test for the pretty one," Joker pointed at me.

I cocked my head to the side. "Who, me?"

"His balance is pretty average, and we can't have too many knife-throwing acts, can we?" He explained. "You said 'ee be good with animals?" I nodded slowly in agreement. "Doll, go get Beast." The fluffy-haired girl had just descended from the tightrope as well, and she walked off. "We might need to borrow her and Betty."

"_What!?_" I yelped. I only mentioned the animal thing for extra credit! I didn't actually think they were going to take me seriously! "Uh, how about I just do something else instead?" I suggested, nervously sliding behind Sebastian.

"Oh?" Joker smirked at me. I noticed that he had rather sharp canines, one of which poker out from the side of his mouth like a vampire, or Pluto. "Are 'ee a coward? Does that mean you want to quit?"

He was taunting me, and really I cannot stand being teased. I tend to do stupid things sometimes whenever someone mocks me. Whether it be tying a policeman's shoelaces together and yelling out 'thief!' just to watch him stumble and fall over himself (age nine), or allowing myself to be placed in a ring with a tiger just to make a point (age now).

Luckily, Beast sent Doll back with a message that she wasn't going to allow some newcomer work with Betty, and Joker should find something else for the _new freaks _to do. Ouch, harsh. Oh well, at least I would no longer be shoved in a cage with a tiger.

"Oh, that's a pity," Joker sighed, and then he glanced at me. "'Ee wouldn't happen to have your own animal, would 'ee?" I opened my mouth to suggest Pluto, but then the glare Ciel threw me was enough to make me shut it and shake my head. Now that I think about it, that wouldn't have been the best decision anyway. Pluto was large, and he breathed fire. His presence would have been a bit of a hindrance.

Too bad, he would have been a fantastic stage attraction.

So I shook my head and stepped back to stand beside Ciel. Dagger threw an arm around my shoulders, and patted Ciel on the head. "Well, does this mean the cuties pass then, eh Joker?"

"Not yet!" Ciel and I jumped and stared at Joker with wide eyes. He advanced on us unsmilingly. "There's something important 'ee be missing," he pointed at Ciel's face and, for a moment, I thought he was referring to his eye. "A great, big _smile!_"

I choked on nothing and quickly covered my mouth so that none of them would be able to see how hard I was fighting back the urge to burst out laughing at the shocked look on Ciel's face. He looked so horrified that it was nearly comical.

"Come on, smile!" Joker cooed. "What's wrong? Don't look so chuff! Here, _sm-i-i-i-le!_ Come, come! Smile!"

_This is both painful, and hilarious._ I buried my face in Sebastian's sleeve, visibly shaking with the effort to not give in to the urge. After several moments of Joker's coaxing, Ciel finally raised his head and displayed the cutest, happiest smile I had ever seen him wear ever.

My laughter stopped immediately and I stared at Ciel's face. _So that's the face Ciel would have had…_

* * *

oOo

* * *

We were given costumes out of the circus's storage tent. I couldn't help glaring down at myself in my costume. It was difficult not to feel just a _little _bit self-conscious in the revealing getup. _Still_, I thought to myself, _I suppose it could be worse_.

The bodice was tight, especially around the waist, and it had had no proper sleeves or straps. The entire dress stopped about four inches above my knees, and was wine red in colour. It resembled Doll's dress, but the skirt stuck out a bit more and was upheld with black lace netting underneath.

Around my neck was matching black and red choker, not attached to the dress. It was completed with black, elbow length gloves, a pair of high-heeled black boots, and a hair-band with a tiny matching hat to the side. My hair was out of its ponytail and left to fall down my back. Makeup was minimal: a tiny heart painted under my left eye, red lips and black, sweeping eyeliner.

You know, as short as my outfit was, at least it covered most of my breasts. I wasn't sure how Beast was able to walk around with most of hers on display without feeling just the tiniest bit self conscious. I was glad mine was a bit more conservative, considering the way Sebastian wouldn't stop staring at me blatantly when I came out of the costume tent.

I felt like I wasn't wearing any clothes whatsoever. "Would you stop staring at me?" I snarled at him, folding my arms across my chest to hide myself.

He smirked and let his gaze drag down over my body, and then back up again. "What?" He drawled, at the end of his perusal. "I am merely admiring your figure in that lovely attire."

I flushed, and hissed like an annoyed cat. "I would kill you for that, if I could." Because of my new outfit, I could no longer hide my ring under my shirt, and so I had gone back to wearing it on my ring finger. I just hoped that everyone would assume that it was fake and not try to steal it.

"Everyone, we have some new mates joining us!" Joker called to the crowd. "This is Black!" He gestured to Sebastian. I stared at him blankly because, honestly, what were the odds that they would give him such a name? "And this pretty little lady is Red!" I waved two fingers at the crowd with a smile. "And the little wee one here is Smile." I choked again and had to bury my face in Sebastian's sleeve to hide it. "Give 'em a warm welcome everyone!"

There was a chorus of greetings and other affirmations. "Go on Smile," Sebastian snickered. "Why don't you say a few words?" I pulled away and stared out at the crowd of circus people, picking out the ones that had performed in the tent the night we had gone. I spotted the trapeze artist and the fire-breather. The snake dancer had a copper snake wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

Ciel stuttered for a moment, before finally managing to spit out the words. "P-pleased to meet you." I patted him on the shoulder.

"Come on Smile," Joker raised his arms with a wide grin. "Smile!" _Is this going to be some sort of recurring joke?_ I stared at the man blankly. "Alright, everyone, go back to what you were doing! I'm going to take the new ones around!" The crowd dispersed, and Joker led us out of the tent. "Now I'll give you a backstage tour," he waved a hand, indicating that we should follow him.

I stayed further away from Sebastian, since he clearly couldn't keep his eyes to himself at the moment. Joker led us behind the large circus tent to a gathering of smaller, brown burlap tents arranged in two lines. Some held food, some furniture and props, and others looked to be residential. Between the tents were small lamps.

"This is where ye'll be sleeping," he told us. He pushed the door of one tent aside to reveal the untidy, unsanitary interior. "This is where all the second stringers stay," he explained. "Stage hands and newcomer and the like. You sleep about two to three in a tent."

The comically horrified look had returned to Ciel's face, and even Sebastian didn't look too happy with the accommodations. _Meh, I've seen worse. _

"Over there," Joker let the tent fall shut and turned to point at some other tents. "Is where we eat and where we store the food. Cooking's a big part of the job when 'ee be new, so work hard. Furthest down the line is the infirmary where Black was yesterday," he started walking again, and we followed him silently. "And, past here," he stopped in front of a collection of cleaner-looking tents sectioned off from the others. "Are the private tents for the main cast."

I eyed the spacious, lilac-white tents curiously. "Private tents?" Ciel asked.

"The big names get tents to themselves," Joker explained. "Oh," he pointed to a tent near the edge of the section. "The first tent is Snake's, so best keep your distance. He lets lots of poisonous ones run loose. One bite, and 'ee be stone dead."

I frowned. "Why would he let a bunch of venomous snakes loose?" I asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

Joker shrugged and turned to continue walking. "Well, Snake's an odd one I'd say. He and his serpents are cruel shy of strangers, so ye newcomers must be extra careful. Which reminds me…" he suddenly brought his face really close to Ciel's. "What happened to thy right eye?"

Like I said before, Ciel was really good at thinking on his feet, in spite of the touchiness of the subject. "Uh, there was an accident," he replied vaguely, touching the black eye-patch he had been given as part of his costume.

"A really bad accident," I added. Sebastian shot me a pointed look, which I ignored, and which Joker didn't see.

His expression turned to one of compassion. "Oh…poor thing," he sympathised. "And with 'ee so young," he then smiled and threw an arm over Ciel's shoulders. "Well, we're all damaged here, so let's all be friends!"

I stared at Joker's skeletal hand curiously, wondering what it was made of, and how he had lost his real hand in the first place. As we retraced our steps back to the brown tents, I heard a somewhat familiar tune in the breeze.

_Tom he was the piper's son. He learned to play when he was young. And all the tune that he could play…was Over the Hills and Far Away…_

Ciel put a name to the melody and song in my head. "_Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son…_" he noted. "From Mother Goose?"

"Well spotted, Smile!" Joker commended. "Not too many know that song!"

"My previous master was fond of it," Ciel lied easily before the ringmaster could ask. I knew the song because one of my mother's friends had given me the book for my ninth birthday. She had also taught me how to sing the sad, soft melody. I couldn't remember her name, though. Neither could I remember her face.

I ran a thumb over the stone on my finger and exhaled quietly, and quietly hummed along to the tune on the breeze.

_Over the Hill and Far Away…_


	24. Accommodations and Performances

**Yes, I went there. I put the title in the story. I COULDN'T HELP IT! I mean, Sebastian is Black, it only made sense for Thalia to be Red. I was originally going to name her White, but then I considered it. I mean, red eyes, red-tipped hair, the title, and **_**boom!**_** This happened.**

**Please forgive my cheesiness dear readers! I don't own Black Butler!**

**Accommodations and Performances**

Joker left us in the large tent, which had been converted into a sort of practice area for the performers, with the instruction to stretch and practice hard. I sat on a box painted to look like a giant dice, and watched Sebastian and Ciel stretch. "So…" I started. "What did everyone think of their day?"

Ciel grunted with irritation, or maybe it was just because Sebastian was trying to force him to bend over. "I can't believe the entrance to the first stringer's tent is guarded by a bunch of poisonous snakes," he hissed. "Not guard dogs but guard vipers, huh?"

Sebastian grinned. "Yes. I say young master, or rather, Smile, your muscles are rather tense."

"Keep your opinions to yourself!" I snickered under my breath, and picked up Sebastian's top hat from the ground. I took off my headband-hat, and placed the top hat on my head. "Thalia, stop fooling around and at least stretch!"

Misery and suffering do love company, don't they? "Don't need to," I shrugged. "I'm flexible enough already, see?" I dropped down into a clean split, and then got up again just as quickly. "Besides," I stretched upwards. "I have no one to help me stretch, and I am _not_ letting that pervert touch me."

The pervert in question, namely Sebastian, or Black, gave me a hurt look. "Your words wound me, Red."

"Good. They were supposed to," I stuck my tongue out at him. Still, I decided to adhere to what Ciel had ordered and stretch a bit. I bent over at the waist and stood on my hands. "I suppose this setback means that the only way to explore their tents would be for us to rise to the first string," I lowered myself carefully and rested my weight on my arms and elbows.

Ciel sighed. "It would seem that you're right, Thalia," he muttered. I bent my legs to 90 and 180 degree angles the way I had seen Doll do on the tightrope that first night. "A few poisonous snakes should be no problem for Sebastian, and we need to know if the children are here-!"

"They aren't here," Sebastian interjected. "I didn't sense them in the circus tents at all, both last night and during today's tour." He stopped pushing Ciel down and they both stood to perform another exercise. I flipped myself forward to stand on my feet, and sat down to reach for my toes.

"Still," Ciel said. "There really isn't any proof that they _aren't _connected to the kidnappings either. We can't leave here until we've investigated them thoroughly."

"True," Sebastian agreed. "It is possible that they simply aren't in a fit state for me to sense them."

I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes slightly. "So…they might be dead?" That would be horribly depressing and terrible news.

Sebastian smiled at me and bent over with Ciel on his back. "Not exactly. And, although I didn't sense the children, I did sense-!"

"Oi, you three, stop standing around and stretching and start practicing!" Dagger cut him off inadvertently. "It's your first day, right?" I got to my feet and we faced him. "I'll coach you through practice! First, we need to decide what your acts will be. Any requests?"

"I'd prefer something that doesn't have to do with tightropes or heights please," Ciel said. "_Greatly_ prefer."

I giggled quietly, while Dagger laughed outright. "Yeah, you do seem pretty frail! Well then, I'll teach Smile all about knife throwing! What about you two?" He turned to Sebastian and me. "Black, Red?"

"I'd also like to learn about knife-throwing," I smiled and shrugged. "But anything else will work too." _Apart from the tiger._

"I have no particular preference," Sebastian said. _Mostly because you're probably good at everything._

He must have really impressed Dagger and the others at some point, because they hadn't forced him to do the tests Ciel and I had. "Yeah, you're a real athlete," Dagger grinned. "Fine, try whatever you think you can manage and I'll watch!"

"Try not to show…" Sebastian darted past us in a blur of black fabric. "…off. Ugh," I facepalmed and Ciel exhaled quietly.

"First, the trapeze!" He swung across the ceiling, deliberately doing death-defying stunts to stun and awe onlookers. "Next, juggling!" He juggled a dozen bowling pins at once. "Pole climbing!" He flew up and down the metal poles. "Rings of Fire! Aerial acrobatics! The trampoline! Skipping rope! Contortions!"

"Okay, now he's just being smug," I muttered to Ciel.

"Next," Sebastian held up a long, sharp sword. "I will swallow this swo-!"

Luckily, Dagger stopped him before he could, and the gathering crowd burst into applause and excited talking. I squeezed through the crowd of awed second stringers to Sebastian's side, and pinched his wrist. "You just don't know how to blend in, do you?" I hissed at him. I couldn't see his face, but I did feel the moment his hand suddenly twisted and gripped mine, linking our fingers together. Because of the pressing crowd, I couldn't struggle the way I normally would.

"You're getting carried away," Ciel whisper harshly to the butler. "Act more like a new-"

Dagger spoke again. "Well I'll be darned," he grinned good-naturedly. "_Another_ bright new star? I'd better keep sharp!"

"'_Another'_?" Ciel repeated.

"There's another brilliant lad who just joined up," Dagger explained. "Look, over there!" Our eyes followed the line of his finger to the tightrope. There was a man in a brightly coloured suit walking along the rope with perfect balance. "He's a former civil servant or something, and he's strangely serious. I say!" He called up to the man. "Come down here, Suit!"

Ciel's eyes widened in shock. "That's…!"

"A reaper," Sebastian finished. I knew what a reaper was, but the only reaper I'd seen was the strange, gender-undefined, redheaded one that had a thing for Sebastian. It had not been a very pleasant experience, and it had left me with a rather bad view of what reapers were like.

_In any case, _I stared up at the man. _If there is a reaper here, then that means that soon…someone is going to die._ How cheerful.

"Ah yes," Suit spoke. "I thought I smelled something foul. For goodness's sake…" he spun the metal stick in his hand, and then suddenly stabbed at Sebastian with it. "I didn't think we'd meet again," he jumped down from the rope, using the elongated pole as a means to descend. I pushed Ciel behind me cautiously. "What prey are you hunting this time," he pointed the sharp end of the pole at Sebastian's face. "You vile demon?"

Murmurs broke out in the assembled crowd. I glanced at Sebastian. "I take it you know him?" I whispered lowly.

"You could say that," Sebastian whispered back. The murmurings were getting louder, and Ciel was becoming visibly worried about the circus people guessing exactly what Sebastian was. I doubted they would, unless Sebastian did something stupid like let his eyes glow or something of the sort.

"I say," Ciel played dumb. "What are you talking about?"

"As if it wasn't bad enough that reapers are in short supply," the reaper sighed like a manager who believed that what he was doing was well below his paycheck and station. "Demons have to pop up everywhere too? I'll have to work yet _another_ late night."

Things may have come to head at that moment, if Dagger hadn't stepped forward and began knocking the reaper, Suit, on the side of the head. "Cut it out, you plonker!" He laughed. "You say your gags with such a straight face that people can't tell they're gags!" The rest of the crowd began to chuckle. "This guy's been cracking jokes since the moment he got here," Dagger explained. "Going on about 'souls' and stuff like that. He's an incurable occult freak!"

_I wish it were that simple._ "I'm not actually joking," Suit muttered, but Dagger wasn't listening.

"Let me introduce you to the new rookies!" Dagger gestured to us. "The little one's Smile, the big one's Black, and the pretty lady is called Red." _Aw, shucks, stop it._ Suit glared at Sebastian, glossed over Ciel, and then stared at me with mild curiousity. His gaze dropped down and he raised a single brow. I realised that Sebastian was still holding my hand rather tightly. "You're our rising stars, so play nice, okay?" Dagger patted them both on the shoulders.

I had to admit, the blond had to be pretty oblivious to the atmosphere to do that. The tension was nearly palpable. He was basically throwing two angry male wolves into a pit and asking them not to kill each other. _This will not end well._

"I flatly refuse to play nice with vermin," Suit said coldly, and then he turned and walked away.

Well, to a grim reaper, I could see why he would hate Sebastian. If they collected souls, and demons ate souls, then that could make your work considerably much harder. Still, I folded my arms over my chest with a huff. "Rude," I said.

"What is a grim reaper doing here?" Ciel asked.

"It's rare for a reaper to go undercover," Sebastian commented. "Still, this tells us one thing for certain: something is definitely going on at this circus." We watched Suit walk further and further away.

Ciel sighed. "I suppose it might be worth a try to question him, Sebastia-!" _Dagger does do a lot of interrupting, doesn't he?_ I watched the blonde grab Ciel around the neck with a big smile on his face.

"Come on, Smile!" He grinned cheerfully. "Time to practice so you can keep up with Black and Red!" Sebastian and I watched Dagger drag him away in the direction of the knife targets, and then I squeaked when Sebastian suddenly began dragging me in the direction of the colourfully dressed man.

He was still holding my hand rather tightly, and he probably wasn't about to let go of his own volition. Struggling clearly wasn't going to help, but I still tried anyway. I kept trying, shooting pointed glares at the back of Sebastian's head, until we reached the edge of the ring.

"Pardon me…" Suit stopped walking and turned halfway to stare at us. "I have a few questions for you…as my senior."

The reaper stared at us for a moment, and then adjusted his glasses with a self-important air. "I have nothing to say to the likes of _you,_" he replied, turning around again.

Sebastian released my hand in favour of grabbing Suit's wrist in a grip that would probably have shattered several bones in the body of any normal human being. "Don't be like that," Sebastian said. "Let's step outside for a minute!" I sweatdropped, and took a few steps backwards just in case someone got violent.

"I don't have time to talk with you, or your consort," Suit snarled.

I scowled at him. "Hey, I am _not_ his consort! Don't say anything!" I directed the second statement at Sebastian. "As for _you_," I placed my hands on my hips and glared at Suit. "We just want to ask you a few questions. So you can either decide to come quietly, or you can blow your cover entirely. What's it going to be?"

Suit stared at me silently, and then looked back at Sebastian. "Your consort talks far too much," he said, and I barely resisted the urge to punch the man in the face. "Fine. We will meet behind the residential tents in ten minutes."

Sebastian finally let him pull free of his grip, which he did. The reaper dusted himself off, eying his sleeve as though Sebastian had stained it just by touching it. He shot me another mildly curious glance, though it was now mixed with annoyance, before walking off. I crossed my arms with a huff, and then squeaked when I felt an arm slide itself around my waist.

"Well done, Red," Sebastian smirked down at me. "Although, I don't know why you keep denying it…"

I hissed and slapped at his hand. "Because it isn't true, is it?" I asked. "Now stop touching me, you pervert!" I slithered out of Sebastian's grip, and ran to inform Ciel about what had transpired.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Seven minutes later, we met behind the tents. It was dark, and no one would miss us for a few minutes or so.

Suit, whose real name I now knew to be William T. Spears, adjusted his glasses and angled a look at Sebastian. "Why am I here, you ask?" He said, and then he exhaled an irritated breath through his nose. "To think an administrator like me would be forced onto field duty," he grumbled. "Now I have to clean up after a certain prat in Collections while he's being suspended."

"'_Certain prat_' huh?" I repeated quietly. The image of grinning reaper appeared in my mind. _Oh yeah, him._

"I curse my luck," Suit – I'm just going to refer to him as either Suit, or the reaper – continued. "I didn't realise that graduating with him meant running around and fixing his mistakes."

"I take it that a grim reaper personally doing undercover work implies special circumstances?" Sebastian queried.

The reaper adjusted his glasses again – he did that a lot, I noted – this time with the help of his garden shears. "Do you think I would reveal soul-related information to a demon?" He said. "That would be like setting rabbits loose before a wolf."

Sebastian simply smirked. "I have no interest in cheap souls," he told the reaper. A candle flickered in one of the lamps.

Suit scoffed. "Fine words from a starving demon," he replied. "I know you're nearly half-mad with hunger." _He is? _I looked up at Sebastian. His eyes were glowing in the dim, shadowy light. Was the reaper right? Was Sebastian really that hungry? If so, why would he form a contract and deliberately torture himself like this?

"Maybe," he acquiesced. "But I have long since grown tired of ripping into every half-baked soul I see. The hungrier one is, the more satisfying the meal."

"Oi, could we not talk about this right now?" I piped up. "That's Ciel we're talking about. Save that sort of talk for when I'm not around." Although I wasn't entirely happy about the fact that Sebastian would eventually eat Ciel's soul, I kept it out of my mind most of the time. Ciel had made his choice. Like it or not, he, and the people around him, were going to have to live with that choice.

Sebastian's eyes stopped glowing, and he just smiled down at me. I rubbed my upper arms to generate a bit more heat into my body. _Honestly, _I scolded myself. _What possessed you to go out in this sort of temperature without even a scarf? Are you trying to kill yourself? _ "Are you cold, Red?" I blinked as a piece of dark fabric landed on my head and shoulders: Sebastian's jacket.

_It's warm. _I muttered a thank you, and pulled the cloth tighter around me, glad that it was too dark to see my blushing face. I heard Suit scoff. "Poor thing," he was talking about me. "She doesn't know what she's getting into with you, does she?" _What? What am I getting into?_ "At least you aren't going to devour her soul. Not that you'd be able to. Her soul does seem to have been tampered with." _My what has been whatnow?_

"You don't need to worry about me devouring souls." I looked up to see Sebastian pulling off his glove to briefly reveal the sign of the Faustian contract. "As you can see, I'm on a lead at the moment." The sign was gone before I could get a good look at it.

There was silence for a few seconds. _Thunk! _The blunt end of the metal pole hit the ground. "Very well," he said. "In the next few days, we plan to review a large number of souls in this area," he told us. "This is a very special case, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't interfere."

Sebastian tilted his head to the side. "That sounds tasking," he smiled. "Why don't I assist you?" The next second, the blade of the pole was lodged in a tree behind Sebastian. I froze in shock.

I couldn't see the reaper's eyes behind the glare of the light on his glasses. "I cannot abide unpaid overtime," he snapped. "If you interfere, I will cut you down. You and your consort."

"What do I have to with this?" I asked aloud. He retracted the blade, and I caught Sebastian's hat, which had been blown off his head by the sudden attack.

I handed the hat to Sebastian. "I don't associate with Reapers for the fun of it anyway," Sebastian said, placing the hat back on his head. "Particularly, as I said before, I have no interest in cheap souls. As an administrator, you of all reapers should know the rules about killing people who aren't supposed to be killed. If you lay a hand on her…" his voice suddenly changed and became harder and colder than I had ever heard him sound. "…_I will not hesitate to slaughter you where you stand_."

_Whoa._ I stared up at Sebastian with wide eyes, and then the moment was somewhat cut short by Ciel's appearance. "Oi, the show's about to start," he snapped. "That obnoxious knife thrower wants you."

Suit stared at Ciel, and then altered his glasses again. "He doesn't look very choice to me," he said. "Really, I'll never understand demons."

"Don't call him that here," Ciel glared at Suit. "They took if for a joke earlier, but I'd rather not risk it. If you can't even blend in with humans, then you're worse than that ginger riff-raff." I covered my smile with the sleeve of Sebastian's coat. The reaper's eyebrow twitched just slightly, the only indication that he was annoyed by the comparison.

"Indeed," Sebastian smirked. "Now we won't interfere with your work, and you don't interfere with us. Agreed?"

His eyebrow was still twitching. "Excellent, since I despise the very sight of you."

I clapped my hands together once and stood up. "Great, so it's decided then?" I looked between the two of them. "We'll both stay far apart and out of each other's way, alright?" The ground suddenly shook, like a tiny tremor under the ground. I blinked. "What just…?"

Suit turned to Ciel. "Well then, Smile…" Ciel gritted his teeth at the name, and the reaper arched an eyebrow at him. "Please keep your little dog firmly reined in." _Sebastian hates dogs. _It was kind of funny to hear him being called the name he so often used to insult Ciel.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who can't even go undercover properly," Ciel snapped. "Four Eyes."

"I'm not Four Eyes," the reaper said in a monotonous voice, for such a declamatory statement. "I'm Suit!"

I stared at his back, and then sighed. "I've met far too many weirdoes ever since I started working for you," I told Ciel.

"Let's go Thalia, Sebastian." The show was starting, and while the first stringers entertained the audience in the ring, the rest of the second stringers, Sebastian, Ciel and I moved crates and props around backstage. Ciel was frailer than I thought, and he spent quite a while struggling with one box.

I caught the box before he could tip over, and hoisted it up into my arms properly. "How about you stick to carrying the plastic stuff?" I suggested. Ciel shot me a look that was equal parts irritation, and gratitude, and then took my advice.

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Finally!" Joker waved a paper in the air as we gathered outside beside the brown tents backstage. "The moment you've all been waiting for, it's the tent assignments!"

"Oh joy," I muttered. I was still wearing Sebastian's coat for warmth. He hadn't asked for it back, and I hadn't seen the point in giving it back to him. It was warm, and it smelled like him. I couldn't place the scent at all, but it was rather pleasant, not that I'd ever, _ever_ tell him that. _Ever. _

Ciel was sitting on a large crate and panting heavily. "Right..." he muttered.

"Don't look so down in the mouth, Smile!" Joker grinned down at Ciel. "Come on Smile, smile!" I knew that was going to be some sort of recurring joke to this guy, one that Ciel clearly didn't appreciate but had to bear. I patted him on the head. "According to the results of our impartial lottery," Joker pulled back and looked at the paper in his hands.

I noticed a boy come to stand near Joker. Well, either it was a boy or a girl with a very flat-chest. He, or she, had freckles all over their nose and dark brown hair that was combed over one eye so I couldn't see all of his or her face.

"Smile, 'ee be in tent eight," Joker said, and then he gestured to the kid at his side. "And here's thy roommate." The kid smiled at Ciel cheerfully. He, or she, looked friendly and rather good-natured. "Black, 'ee be in tent nine."

Ciel jerked and jumped down from the crate. "I'm not rooming with Black?"

Joker stared at him blankly. "No, why would 'ee?"

Dagger laughed and threw an arm over Ciel's shoulders. "You're fairly tied to Black's apron strings, aren't you?" He grinned. "Time to be independent!"

"Besides," Joker referred to the paper again. "Black's roommate is...Suit!" I snorted, choked, and covered my mouth with the sleeve of Sebastian's jacket to hide the laughter threatening to burst out. I could almost see the way they both froze, and I could almost hear the murderous thoughts going through their heads.

"Look at that!" Dagger smiled obliviously. "They're both delighted!" I snorted again, and quickly avoided Sebastian's glare.

"Finally, Red is with Flair," Joker finished, pointing over at someone. I recognised the beautiful, dark-skinned woman with a few feathers adorning her hair and neck as one of the adoring women that had crowded around Sebastian earlier that day.

As though she sensed my stare, she looked over and gave me a cold stare, which grew colder when she noticed the jacket around my shoulders. I sweatdropped. _Oh darn,_ I sighed quietly and stood up._ Do I really have to deal with another one of Sebastian's lovers?_ I watched her huff and walk away.

"Right, let's be off Dagger," Joker folded up the list. "We'll leave the rookies to settle in."

"Goodnight!" Dagger called. The four of us stood in silence for a moment. A cold wind fluttered my hair and the tailcoats of the jacket hanging off my shoulders.

After a moment, I sighed and turned to Sebastian. "Here," I took off the coat and held it out to him. "You can have this back. I've got to go find my new roommate before she gets too far away and I get lost." Sebastian took the jacket from me and shrugged it on. I saw his eyes widen just a fraction, but I didn't think too much of it. "Well, goodnight everyone! Have fun with your new roommates!" I walked off.

**Sebastian's POV**

It had her scent.

Although she hadn't been wearing the cloth for long, I could smell her body all over it. A familiar scent of life and human essence, laced with something sweet and mysterious. The aroma made my head spin and my mouth water, made me long to taste her like I had before. It made me yearn to run my tongue over the smooth skin of her neck, her shoulders, lower…lower…

I had to fight not to let my eyes glow red at the thoughts dancing through my mind. I could already see the reaper beside me shooting me wary glances. I really didn't need to give him any reason to suspect me anymore than he clearly already did. The euphoria of having her scent so close by, although it would soon disappear, was only marginally dulled by the fact that I would now have to room with _him_.

My lips tugged up in a smile. _Thalia..._

* * *

oOo

* * *

_Thump!_

"Listen here, rookie," Flair glared at me when I threw my stuff onto the upper bunk bed. "I don't care how talented Dagger, or Joker think you are. I've been in this business longer than you have, so it won't do you any good to get too big for your boots!"

"Uh huh…" I stared at the woman warily. She hadn't said anything to me when I'd eventually found her, and she hadn't really said anything when I'd claimed the bed I wanted. Those had been her first words to me since she'd met me. "So, how long _have _you been working here?"

She scoffed and turned away to face the mirror. "Long enough," she replied curtly. I watched as she carefully unpinned the feathers from her hair and began to strip out of her clothes for bed. I turned around to give her some privacy. "What?" She taunted. "Too much of a virgin? I wonder what that hunk even sees in you."

_Hunk? _She meant Sebastian. I shrugged and took off my head-band. "I don't know either," I said to myself. Pretty though I was, and well-endowed as well, there _were_ better looking women out there. For example, Flair. And Beast.

She must have overheard me, because she turned around, dress half off, and stared at me curiously. My dress was also partially off, and I yelped and quickly hugged my chest to hide as much of it as I could. "What, you mean he isn't your lover?" I choked, this time because I was surprised and embarrassed, not because I was amused. "You do know that a man like that is free game for every female vulture here, right?" She said. "It won't be long before some other girl picks him off."

I arched an eyebrow. "Like you?"

To my surprise, she merely grinned and shrugged. "Nah, you don't need to worry about me doing the picking. I have my eye on someone else." I felt my shoulders subconsciously relax. "He is a hunk though," she noted. "You should do something before he goes off you and starts looking for another girl."

_If he does that, then he clearly wasn't interested in me beyond anything physical._ "It doesn't matter anyway. It's not like he doesn't care for me like that," I turned my back on her and continued taking off my dress.

Flair scoffed. "You can't be serious," she said. "You're a gem! Any red-blooded man worth his salt would notice you!" I did not mention to her that Sebastian's blood was probably not red. I blushed at her comments, and quickly donned the white nightdress I wore to bed. "Oh yeah, by the way…"

I fluffed out my hair and pulled it over my shoulder to braid it. "What?"

Flair stared at me. She was wearing something that looked like purple lingerie under a thick nightgown, and a lacy sleeping mask resting on her. She lifted a finger and pointed at my head. "The other girls and I were wondering…what happened to your hair?"

I tensed for a moment, and then relaxed. "Oh, it's a genetic quirk," I lied easily. "It only happens to the women in my family."

Flair nodded, her lips shaped in a small 'o' of understanding, and then she shrugged and climbed into bed. "Turn off the lights when you're ready to sleep," she told me, and then she pulled the sleep mask over her eyes and rolled over onto her side. "Goodnight, Red."

I finished braiding my hair and blew out the flame in the candle. "Goodnight, Flair."

* * *

**Alright, I also know I should be working on my OHSHC fanfic, but I've been in a really Black Butler mood lately. Also I've been suffering from an extreme case of writer's block but don't worry, I should have the next chapter out by tomorrow (maybe).**

**Please leave reviews if you can!**


	25. Show-Time Plans

**Sorry this came out later than I wanted. First, I lost my flashdrive (which is where I keep all my stories. I swear, I will probably be buried with that thing) and then my internet timed out, and then my laptop screen cracked. Life just keeps throwing curveballs I swear.**

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter. I own nothing except for Thalia!**

**Show-Time Plans**

Morning came quicker than it should have and, although I was used to waking up early as a maid, that didn't mean that I really liked it. According to Flair, however, newcomers had to wake up really early to make breakfast for everyone else.

I quickly dressed in my ordinary clothes and stepped out of the tent, stretching my arms in the cool, January morning air. Several people walked past me carrying baskets of vegetables and potatoes. There were other people a few metres away peeling and chopping at the foodstuffs. As I lowered my arms, I felt a presence behind me.

"Did you sleep well, Red?" Sebastian came to stand at my shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess," I placed a hand on one hip and turned slightly to face him. "I won't ask you the same question, but how was your night anyway?"

Someone else knocked past me impatiently, and I lost my balance and fell against his chest. "Careful darling," Sebastian wrapped a loose arm around my waist to steady me. My face flamed at our close proximity, the new pet-name, and the fact that there were _people_ around watching us. I pushed myself away from him and whirled around to face the other direction.

_It is far too early for this! _Flair's words from last night suddenly returned to me, and I scoffed internally. "Oh look, there's Ci-Smile!" I spotted Ciel's shivering form among the mass of people preparing breakfast. "Good morning Smile," I walked over to him and placed both my hands on my hips. "Wow, you look terrible." He did look a right mess. Was this how he dressed whenever he didn't have Sebastian to help him?

"I guess you can't even dress yourself without help," Sebastian smirked down at Ciel.

Ciel huffed and turned his back on us. "Shut up," he snapped. "I was in a hurry, that's all." I clucked my tongue, and leaned forward to loosen the shoddy knot of his eye-patch so I could do it again. "What are you doing?" He hissed.

I frowned and pulled the knot free. "You won't be able to tie the strings again if you do them in such a complicated knot," I pointed out, deftly retying the strings into a more suitable knot. "There, see?" I didn't notice that we were being observed until Ciel's eyes shot to the side, and childish giggles broke out behind us.

That kid, Ciel's new roommate, was laughing teasingly at Ciel. "Cor, Smile, Red isn't your mum you know!" He, or she (I really had to decide on a gender soon), chuckled.

"No, it's just a habit! – I mean, it's just a coincidence!" I smiled blithely, finding Ciel's fumbling rather cute. It was nice to see him around people his own age. The only other person his age I knew was Lady Elizabeth, and he rarely ever saw her. "Oi, stop it you two!" He hissed at us under his breath. "Don't treat me as your master while we're here!"

"Alright," I nodded, even though I wasn't.

"Very well," Sebastian straightened. "I'll start right away." I stared up at him with confusion, which quickly changed to surprise at his next words. "Smile! How do you plan to use those potatoes?" His voice rose, taking on a mocking, condescending sort of air. "You've '_peeled'_ them to bits!"

True. Ciel clearly had never done anything like that before. He had wasted more than half of the potatoes in peeling, and what was left were just thick strips, some still with the skin on. I sweatdropped, and nudged Sebastian in the side. _Oi, you didn't have to be so mean and embarrass him like that!_ I glared up at him, and he met my glare with an innocent smile.

"Smile, what is wrong with you?" Ciel's roommate – who I had decided to dub as being probably male, going by all apparent evidence – stared at the decimated potatoes in horror, along with everyone else.

"I'm sorry!" Ciel apologised quickly.

"Ugh," the boy rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "Now I don't even know which part to eat!"

"Well, it can't be helped," Sebastian picked up a strip of potato skin and eyed it. "I know I saw some fish somewhere, so let's fry these up and make fish and chips!"

That idea seemed to cheer up everyone, and Ciel's mistake was quickly forgotten. I was engaged in the peeling of more potatoes, while Sebastian disappeared to the food tent to cook. Soon the delicious smell of frying potatoes and fish filled the air. Flair found me hacking away at the roots just as a shout rang through the air. "Food's ready!"

At that, the entire contents of the circus began to surge towards the food tent in a crowd of hungry circus people. Flair grabbed my wrist. "What are you waiting for?" She snapped impatiently. "If we don't go now, we'll miss all the good stuff!" We didn't. I was hungry, and in no mood to be shoved around by the amassed crowd of people. I more or less bullied my way to the front and came back with a plate laden with bread, sausages, bacon, eggs, chips and fish; all of it drizzled with ketchup.

Flair eyed my plate over her more modest selection, and whistled. "You sure eat a lot, don't you?"

I tossed a bit of bacon into my mouth and smiled. "You haven't tasted Black's cooking before," I replied.

She arched a dubious eyebrow, and took a bite of her fish. "Wow!" her eyes widened in surprise. "This is amazing! I've never had fish and chips this good before!" We both tucked in with gusto. She finished before I did, seeing that she had taken less than I had, and stood up. "When you're done, come to the big tent," Flair told me. "We have practice right after breakfast, so hurry up!"

"Okay!" I watched her go for a second, and then went back to my breakfast. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see some men staring at me. I could read their expressions perfectly, having seen them in the faces of so many others: curiousity, lust, and a sense of pride in one's own physical appearance.

I quickly shoved the last few bites of food into my mouth and picked up my plate to drop in the front. I couldn't risk the chances of any of them coming over and trying to talk to me. Sebastian would probably unleash hell on them (pun not intended) and I did not intend to be responsible for whatever trauma, or death, might occur.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Although I had decided that I didn't mind not working with the tiger, Beast was being rather rude about it. She didn't want anyone else working with Betty, and she seemed to make a point of repeating this whenever she saw me.

I had a feeling that this was because of Sebastian's actions that first night in the ring, or because of Sebastian himself. She did not like him, which was new for me, as I was the only female I knew who had not succumbed (wholly) to Sebastian's charms.

Anyway, she did not like him and, by extension, she did not like me.

At any rate, I had decided to focus on other tricks. I was currently practicing walking on the tightrope. Although I was actually quite terrified of heights, I was only terrified when the chances of falling and potentially dying were quite high. I had a lot of faith in my balance, and I was pretty agile, so I was able to not only walk across the rope, but also perform back-flip, splits and execute handstands on it.

"Nice going, Red!" Dagger praised me as I climbed down from the tightrope. "You're very talented at this! Maybe we should put you in tonight's show as a treat!"

I smiled back at him, blushed a little at the praise, and then wandered away. I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled softly. While all of this was fun, it was also really tiring, both physically and mentally. I paused for a second, and stared up at the sight before me with a massive tick sign on my forehead. "Could you guys at least _pretend_ like you're not obviously trying to outdo each other?" I called up to the supernatural duo.

As far as I could see, they both seemed to be having a contest of sorts, seeing who could balance on the most things. Sebastian was balanced on several giant and colourful bouncing balls, while Suit balanced on several metal cylinders and a plank.

"Black is brilliant!" Someone cheered.

"But Suit is keeping right up!"

"They're bloody superhuman!" I heard someone else say. _Well you're not wrong there._ I rolled my eyes and made my way back to the tightrope. The whole morning, up until the early noon hours, was spent tumbling and jumping and telling Sebastian to tone down the competitive stunts. Every time I spoke to him, however, he just said something inappropriate. Or, at least, inappropriate to me anyway. I could see Flair giving me curious looks of the side of her gaze.

"Nothing between you, huh?" She hummed when break was called. I stopped wiping my face with my skirt and stared at her blankly. "I don't know, Red. He seems to like you quite a lot."

I waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, he's just teasing me," I told her. "He does that a lot."

"Mmm," she hummed with clear disbelief in her tone, but she didn't push it. "Do you want to head to the showers now?" She asked me. I lit up at the prospect of a bath. "Girls get to bathe earlier, and the female showers are a lot cleaner than the male ones," she told me as she led me to the shower area. "But they're still pretty open. There's little to no privacy on the road. We have to make do with what we can."

I nodded, already feeling a bit nervous. Although I was a bit wary of being naked in front of other people, it's not like it would be too horrible. The only thing I was worried about was that all my scars would be on display. While most of them had faded, there were still a few obvious ones, especially the one on my hip.

_Besides,_ I reached up and touched the nape of my neck. _They'll see this thing. Even I don't know what it is._ We reached the shower area, which was just a really large, plastic folding screen arranged to form a circular encampment. "The only thing we really need to worry about are peeping toms," Flair told me, and then she pulled the door of the screen away.

I had never seen, and probably would never see, so much female flesh on display again in my life. There were several buckets of water on two sides. The women soaked a towel in the water from one side, cleaned themselves with some soap and the wet towel, and then rinsed the soap and dirt off with the water from the buckets on the other side.

"What are you waiting for?" Flair had already started stripping. "Break won't last forever, you know."

"Alright, alright!" I turned my back to the others and began loosening the strings that kept the dress tight. I could hear the other females talking behind me, and I heard my name or, rather, my stage name pop up a few times along with Sebastian's.

**No One's POV**

Sebastian made his way towards the male bathing area with some towels. Although Ciel had ordered him and Thalia to not behave in any way like they were his servants, he still had his duty to the boy. However, as he walked, he passed by the female area and his supernatural hearing picked up the conversation of several men standing a bit too close to it.

"_Mmm, I was right. She does have quite the body, doesn't she?_"

"_You know, I wasn't sure about the newbies at first, but if we're going to be getting pretty girls like Red all the time, then I don't mind._"

He froze. Those men were talking about Thalia, about his _mate_. And, if his suspicions were correct, then they were also watching her and the other women bathing. His eyes began to glow as rage flared up inside him.

The men looked up angrily as a shadow fell over them. Sebastian smiled down at them with a look of mock cheer and politeness. "Excuse me gentlemen, I believe you're doing something you shouldn't be."

"Oh yeah?" One of them men, the largest one, snarled back. "What?"

"_You're staring at my mate_."

* * *

oOo

* * *

I finished bathing quickly, leaving little to no time for anyone to ask me any questions about any scars or wounds, although I saw the way they all stared at me curiously. I threw a towel over my wet hair, and made my way from the bathing area to my shared tent, shivering slightly due to the frigid water and weather.

Unfortunately, I bumped into Sebastian on the way past the male baths. "Oh," I blinked up at him. "Where are you going?" I asked him curiously, and then I eyed the stack in his arms. "And why so many towels?"

He just smiled down at me. For some reason, he seemed highly pleased with himself. There was this aura of smugness around him that made me feel suspicious. "You ask far too many questions, Thalia," he said.

"Yeah, well, you're far too evasive," I rubbed my hair vigorously with my towel, and then combed my fingers through it. "So, where's Smile?" I quizzed. "Is he in the bath with the other guys?" I was going to ask why Sebastian wasn't with them, and then I wondered if he even needed to bathe at all, or if he just went around looking perfect and sparkly.

Before Sebastian could answer me, I heard a thud, and someone cried out. Suddenly, door of the bath flew open and Ciel ran out, clutching himself like he had been hurt. He was soaked, completely soaked to the bone. I don't think he even see us, he just raced past us in the direction of the woods.

"Smile!" I took off after him, not even sparing Sebastian a glance. At that moment, my worry took precedence over my arguably growing feelings for the butler.

Ciel had run in the direction of the trees, near where the circus people kept the caravans which stashed their spare things. I finally found him huddled up beside one on the ground, his legs drawn up to his chest and his forehead touching his knees.

"Ciel," I walked over to him and knelt down in front of him. He was shivering pretty badly. "Hey, Ciel..." The towel I had was a bit damp, but it would have to do. I unwrapped it from around my neck and started drying his hair and his shoulders. "You're going to die of pneumonia if you don't get dry soon," I told him. "I wish I'd brought a dry cloth or something..."

Suddenly, a large, grey-green blanket landed over Ciel's shoulders, courtesy of Sebastian. "You'll catch a cold, my lord," the butler knelt down on. "I also brought a change of clothes."

_I should have done that, _I felt a twinge of shame. _I should have actually done something to help and not just run after him without any form of assistance._ "Enough..." Ciel muttered.

"What?"

"I said I've had enough!" Ciel raised his head and glared at Sebastian. "I'll go _mad_ if I keep living like this."

"My, my," Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "Your fortitude ran dry fast," he noted. "Are you giving up already? It's not like you to let such trifles drive you mad, young master."

I wrapped the blanket around Ciel a bit tighter, and saw the way his eyes widened at Sebastian's words. _If he has truly been through what I think he has,_ I mused. _Then this isn't the worst thing that has happened to him. These aren't the worst conditions he has been subject to._ I leaned backwards to rest on my calves and I watched the way his fingers tightened on the cloth.

_He isn't going to give up. _I watched him exhale a puff of crystallized air. "Not like me, eh?" He murmured. Ciel suddenly stood, still dripping wet, but no longer shivering. "Quite right. I am the head of the Phantomhive house," he said. "Naturally, it is not like me to live in such conditions." I got to my feet as he turned back to us. "We'll get this over with and leave quickly!"

I couldn't help smiling and nodding. "Yes, young master."

"Understood," Sebastian got to his feet as well. I followed the two of them behind the tents and perched on a crate while Sebastian dried Ciel. Why didn't I do it? Because when I offered, Ciel glared at me with a red blush and sputtered a no very adamantly. So, there you have it.

Said boy was now warmer, and considerably much drier than before. "I'd planned to work our way up the ladder," he said. "However I can't go on living in these conditions for much longer. I'm at my limit," he donned the dry shirt I'd quickly fetched from his tent. Luckily his roommate hadn't been there.

"Personally, I find brute force better that infiltration," Sebastian commented. I arched an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything. "Since the reaper keeps me from moving freely at night." Suit didn't want Sebastian roaming around without Ciel. I could understand that, but it did make our job considerably harder.

"The reaper's presence doesn't prove them guilty," Ciel said shortly. "Behave yourself," I jumped down from my seat and wrapped another blanket around Ciel. He was still a bit damp, but he was good to go. "If we could search the first-stringer's tents, we can go home. The time to strike is during the show tonight, when they aren't in their tents," he sat on the crate I'd previously been sitting on. "First I need a way to shake off that freckled chap who follows me everywhere."

I hummed quietly, and placed a hand on his shoulders. "You're still shaking," I murmured worriedly. "You're going to catch a cold if you don't get warm." I wished we were back at the mansion, in front of a warm fire. With the way he was shivering, he'd be lucky if he didn't come down with something.

Ciel shook me off a bit roughly. "I'm fine, Thalia," he snapped. I sighed and folded my arms across my chest. "I wish I was back at the mansion. I want something sweet to eat…" He grumbled.

Sebastian looked up at him. "I'll prepare you some hot tea as well."

* * *

oOo

* * *

During the show that night, all the second stringers were involved in the preparation. I was sent hither and thither all over the place to find props and costumes and headpieces and all manner of things. We were all required to be in our costumes, and so we all were, with the exception of Ciel. I think he hated his costume and stage name.

"It's almost show-time!" I heard Joker's voice from the front of the tent. "Look lively!" Finally, the show was starting! The tent quickly emptied of people. I leaned against the wall and giggled quietly as some guy wearing a giant rabbit head over his own staggered past me and out of the tent.

I glanced around. There was no one else in the costume tent, except me, Ciel, Sebastian and – for some reason – Suit. "Sebastian! Thalia!" I skipped over to Ciel and leaned over so he could whisper to both of us. "Freckles isn't watching," he hissed. "Let's check the tents now before everyone comes back. We'll be able to get it done in ten minutes!"

Sebastian smiled. "Yes, my lord." I nodded quietly, eying Suit out of the corner of my eye. I was sure he had overheard us (did Reapers have the same supernatural hearing as demons?) but he didn't make a move to stop us in any way. I suppose he was keeping his end of the bargain and staying out of our business.

We exited the tent quietly. Ciel peered around to make sure that no one was in sight, and then took a step further out of the tent. Before we could take more than a few steps further, we heard someone yelling. "Black!" Joker. And he was carrying Wendy on his back with Peter at his side. "We've got trouble!" He told us. "Old Wendy's twisted 'er ankle! The show's already on so I need one of you to take her place!"

_Tightropes? _Yes. _Trapezes? _Heck no! There was no way I was going to do anything that involved flinging myself into space several feet above the ground! I shook my head hurriedly but apologetically. "It can't be me, then," I told him. "I'm not good at trapeze art."

Joker turned to Sebastian pleadingly. He tried to back out of it. "But, surely I'm not a fit substitute…" If the situation had different, I would have given a bark of ironic laughter.

The situation was probably very desperate. If the show was on, they couldn't cancel an entire act and risk disappointing and/or angering the audience. Joker shook his head. "Fit and ready, me 'ansome," he said. "We'll count on 'ee both! 'Ee haven't much time, so be quick!" He called over his shoulder and continued on his way, probably to the medical tent.

Peter glanced back at me. "Oi, Red, Dagger wants you. He said you're supposed to help him with something in the show!"

I blinked. "Help him with-?" I suddenly remembered his cheerful, offhand comment from earlier, and scowled. "Oh for the love of-!" How was I supposed to know he was being serious? Talk about short term notice. I huffed and placed a hand on my hip. "This couldn't have come at a worse time."

Sebastian stared after them, and then turned back to Ciel. "Nothing for it, I'm afraid," he said. "It seems we'll have to find another chance to do this, young master. Young master?"

Ciel folded his arms across his chest and looked contemplative. "We don't know when we'll get another chance," he said. "This may be the only time that he isn't with me," he spotted a timetable hanging from one of the lanterns. "You may both be in the show, but I have some time. The only trouble is the snakes." We watched him study the timetable silently, and then he muttered to himself. "Thalia, you'll be late if you don't go now. Sebastian, come with me!"

I had no idea what Ciel planned to do, but I couldn't stick around. If I hurried through the routine (and I had little to no idea what it was, but it wasn't supposed to be more than twenty minutes long) then I could hurry back and meet Ciel at the tents. I hurried over to the main tent and slipped backstage.

"Red!" Dagger grinned at me cheerily while flipping a knife up and down in one hand. "Just in the nick of time, eh?"

"You should have told me this earlier," I glared at him pointedly. "One offhand comment in the afternoon is not a warning." I felt someone's eyes on me, and I turned around. Beast was glaring at me with irritation. _What did I do? Or, at least, what did Sebastian do that's causing you to direct your anger at me?_

Dagger pouted. "The girl that's normally part of my act got sick," he explained. "You're the only other second stringer that I could use as a replacement.!"

I arched an eyebrow at him, and then I sighed and nodded. "Fine," I muttered. "What do you want me to do?"

The act he described to me was one that I had read in a book. To put it simply, he was going to have me adopt several random poses, and then he would throw knives at me to form an outline of my form.

"That sounds…incredibly nerve-wracking," I blinked. "I don't know if I'll be able to do this properly."

Dagger patted me on the shoulders cheerily. "Don't worry!" He winked. "I'm a pro at this!" And indeed he was. The knives pierced the board just shy of my skin, not close enough to hurt me, but just enough to give the audience a thrill. _I wonder where he learned to do that?_

I bowed quickly, with as much flair as I could squeeze into the hurried motion, and then disappeared backstage. The trapeze act was up next, and I spotted Sebastian and...Suit? Why was he there? I thought only Wendy had gotten injured.

_Well, obviously you can't expect Peter to be able to support Sebastian's weight._

So they'd decided to have the two of them do it? Well that would have made _perfect_ sense if the two of them weren't staring at each other like they'd rather chop off their own hands than make actual contact, even with gloves. Sebastian caught my gaze. "Why don't you let Red do it alongside me?" He suggested.

I froze, and glared at him. "Ha, yeah, well I'm pretty bad at the trapeze." I was marvellously terrified of being thrown up at great height with little proof that I wasn't going to miss the swing and kill myself. I threw Sebastian a look that said _you may not like him, and I may not like him, but just do it! Besides, I have to go help Ciel, remember?_

That was a long message. I don't know if I managed to covey all of that with a glare, but he must have gotten it because he stopped staring at me and exhaled loudly. Suit grunted. "I can't believe I'm expected to collaborate with vermin."

I paused by the door of the tent and glared at him over my shoulder. "Why don't you try sucking up that bitter personality and do something for a change?" I snapped at him, and then I let the fabric of the entrance fall shut behind me.

**I do not like the ending, but I just couldn't think of any other way to end it! *covers face and sighs* Please read and review! I've finished typing out the entire Circus Arc now, so I guess I can focus on everything else.**

**By the way, when is the Book of Murder going to be available to watch? Apparently it's out in Japan but I cannot find it anywhere online.**


	26. Questions to Ask

**Since my last chapter came out later than I wanted, I decided to post this one with just a 48-ish hour gap. Actually, no, I just really wanted to because I'm bored and also hella excited because I just finished typing everything for it, plus extra, plus Thalia's history, and extra. I CANNOT WAIT TO GET THERE! Hence this impatient post.**

**I don't own Black Butler, I only own Thalia and any other OC I had to throw in.**

**Questions To Ask**

You know, when I said that I didn't know what Ciel planned to do about the snake problem, I wasn't lying. I mean, I definitely was expecting him to order Sebastian to tie all the snakes into knots to prevent them from moving. I couldn't help frowning at how uncomfortable they seemed when I peered into Snake's tent while searching for Ciel.

_This has to be some form of animal cruelty_, I walked over to the next tent. It was nearly bare, except for a bed, a luggage box and a chair. On top of the box was a photograph of a man and some children. _Are those the first-stringers? _Out of the children, only a few were smiling. The younger ones, or the younger-looking ones. The older ones seemed subdued, like they knew something the others didn't, and it wasn't good news.

Even the man in the picture was smiling, with his arms stretched around the children. _Who is he? He clearly isn't their father._ _Is he a philanthropist? _I didn't mind philanthropists. They could be very nice people, I supposed. Still, if this man was linked to the disappearance of the children, then he obviously couldn't be that great of a person.

I found Ciel in the next tent. This one was clearly Beast's. I could tell from the red-pink lighting, the clothes and the equipment lying around. The tent smelled like expensive perfume. Ciel was rummaging through her luggage box, which is not really something anyone should do, but this was a special situation.

He jumped when I slipped into the tent, and then he relaxed when he realised that it was just me. "You should have been faster," I whispered, walking over to him. "What if I'd been Beast?"

A snort, and then Ciel went back to what he was doing. "Anyone else would have walked with louder footsteps." _True, _I nodded in acknowledgement. I had been walking to avoid making a sound. Any other person would have moved normally. Ciel pulled something out of the suitcase and I knelt down beside him to look at it better. "That's the same guy from the other picture."

He didn't ask how I knew that, he just nodded. "You're right. The sign behind them though." We stared at the metal gate behind them. "_Workhouse_, so it's an orphanage?"

"That man, whoever he is, is probably some sort of philanthropist," I decided. "Maybe he adopted the first stringers when they were younger? They did mention coming from the same place," I recalled Joker's words on our first day.

"He must have meant the workhouse," Ciel said. "But where is this workhouse? This picture only shows a small fraction of it, and it isn't clear."

I was about to say something, when my ears pricked up at the muffled sound of heels clicking against the ground. "Uh, Ciel, I think someone's coming towards the tents," I got to my feet and glanced around hurriedly for somewhere to hide. "Ciel!" I hissed, when I noticed that he wasn't paying attention and had gone back to searching through Beast's things.

"I need to find something!" He snapped back.

"We do not have time for that!" I whisper-yelled. The footsteps got closer, they were nearly to the front of the tent. "Oh for the love of-!"

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a dark shadow suddenly flew into the tent, crammed Ciel into the box and yanked me under Beast's bed, all before I even had time to make a sound or even blink.

My body collided with something warmer and more comfortable than the floor and I instinctively wrapped my arms around it for stability. "What the-?" I looked up and, in the darkness, I could see a pair of rather amused red eyes staring back at me. My eyes narrowed. "Sebastian, what the hell are you doing here?"

His smirk widened. "Hush, darling, unless you want Beast to hear you?"

I quickly clamped my mouth shut and pointedly avoided the smug look in his eyes. Not a second later, the tent opening swung open again and the clicks became sharper. A pair of high-heels appeared in our line of vision. "Ah, this is so irritating," Beast moaned. "I _liked_ this one!" I peered out as much as I could without being seen. She was changing her clothes. Something must have happened to her other clothes so she had come back to change before the encore.

For some reason, I covered Sebastian's eyes. I don't know why I did it, I just did. He had probably seen more breasts than I had, so I don't know what prompted me to act like he was a child. I heard him chuckle quietly at my action.

"Ah well," Beast finally seemed to be leaving, dressed in a top that was almost identical to her last one. "This one will do as well." I waited for the curtain entrance of the tent to fall shut, before I released Sebastian and crawled out from underneath the bed.

Sebastian stood up. "It's a good thing I returned ahead of schedule," he said, and then he glanced at me. "Thalia?"

"No," I cut him off quickly and went to help Ciel out of the luggage box. I suppose he must have had to open the box and pass Beast her clothes, so he had seen some...things. Poor kid. His face was bright red and he was avoiding my eyes. "Are you okay?"

He nodded quickly and tried to force his face to regain its proper colour. "Anyway," he coughed. "Since we're all here now, I suppose we should share what we've found." The photographs had answered only a few of our questions, but had brought forth a lot more. "Do you see anything important?" He held the picture up.

Sebastian leaned down to study the image better. "Ah, yes," he said almost immediately. "I have seen the imprint from this signet ring quite recently."

Signet ring? I studied the man in Beast's photograph and spotted a signet ring on his little finger. It was such a small detail, and how could Sebastian even see what was on the ring anyway? _Oh, wait, never mind._ "You can even make out details that small?" Ciel bent his head closer to the picture.

_But where would he have seen an imprint from this ring anyway? _Signet rings were used to mark property and important documents. I hadn't seen anything around that was something that would merit being stamped with such a mark. However, Sebastian nodded. "Yes, if my memory serves me right, this matches the seal at the joint of Beast's prosthetic leg."

_Joint? But, Beast's prosthetic leg is joined to her hip. _I blinked, blinked again, and then it finally clicked in my mind. No, more like it slapped me in the face with the force of a carriage going at full pelt. _SEBASTIAN YOU PERVERT!_

No wonder Beast was always snarling at him, and glaring at me! She was probably wondering what sort of freak looks between a woman's legs, and then goes on to flirt with someone else. I was wondering about that too.

_Well, Sebastian, obviously. _I was seething internally, but I managed to keep a nearly neutral face on save for the occasional twitch of my eyebrow. "The seal and the workhouse," Ciel said. "We need to find out more about this man."

Sebastian flipped open a pocket-watch. _You idiot. You womanizing pervert! How dare you touch another woman like it doesn't matter? _"It's almost time," he informed us. "Let's stop here for now. I must free the snakes before the encore."

I stopped my angry inner rant, and stared at him. "You must do whatnow?" Well, obviously he couldn't leave the snakes tied up. Everyone would get suspicious, and we'd upset Snake. That snake dancer was the most interesting and non-supernatural person in this circus. I still had yet to ascertain whether or not his skin had actual scales.

Ciel shook his head. "I still have Joker's tent left," he told us. _But that would be cutting it a bit close, wouldn't it?_ "I should be fine if I work through the encore. Both of you go back so that they don't suspect us. When it's over, you get back here before they do and free the snakes. Got it?"

_Those poor snakes have been through a lot tonight. _Ciel didn't wait for Sebastian to reply before running out of the tent. The butler still bowed anyway. "Yes, my lord." _Great, now where was I? Oh yes. You philanderer! You creep! You womanizer! Wait, I've already said that haven't I? _"Thalia." I was running out of insults for him. "Thalia?"

I didn't answer him. I just flicked the curtain aside and walked out of the tent. _And to think I was allowing myself to have a bit of a soft spot for him,_ I huffed internally. _What else would I expect from a demon?_

"Thalia!"

I stopped walking and glared back at him. "What?" I snapped coldly. There were a lot of things I could handle, but a man that kept flitting from one woman to the next was something I really loathed. Okay, maybe he hadn't really flirted with Beast, and I really didn't know _everything _about how his head had ended up between her legs, but it couldn't be good_. _I mean, how many instances could cause someone's head to end up between someone else's legs?

When I looked up to meet his eyes, I froze. Why? Because the man was using _puppy dog _eyes on me. And guess what? He actually managed to look _cute,_ like a puppy that had just been does that even work? He has read eyes! He should look _creepy_ not adorable! "Thalia?"

_Well, I suppose it was good in a way,_ I found myself attempting to calm down. _It did help us out when we were looking at the pictures. _"I hate you," I told him pointedly, but my voice held less ice than before. "Now hurry up, or we'll miss the encore."

* * *

oOo

* * *

"We did not need to leave the encore so quickly," I scowled at him. "Did you see the look Flair threw me? I don't even want to know _what_ she thought we were going to do," I shuddered and wrapped my arms around his neck even tighter. "That aside, why couldn't you have left me behind?" I rested my chin on the top of his head. "Then I wouldn't be in this position!"

I was currently riding on his back with my arms around his shoulders and my legs wrapped tightly around his waist. The reason for this was the snakes. I like snakes, but they are poisonous and rather unfriendly. Therefore, I was also a bit wary of them. I don't know why Sebastian couldn't have just left me behind while he went to release the snakes, but he hadn't.

Hence my current predicament. The man chuckled. "Maybe I simply enjoy having your body pressed so deliciously against me," he suggested. I went bright red, and then I went redder when I felt warm, gloved hands cupping the skin of my thighs and running just a bit higher than I was comfortable with.

I yelped and kicked at him the best I could, which wasn't very hard considering our current position. "Would you stop that?" I hissed. I pinched him through his suit, which I knew didn't really hurt him. He stopped, at any rate. "Just take me back to my tent and let me sleep!" I buried the bottom half of my face in his hair. He smelled nice, and I would probably never get this chance again.

"Yes, my lady," he didn't ask why I didn't throw a fuss and force him to put me down, and I was grateful for that because then it meant that I didn't have to lie, and then throw a fuss and force him to put me down. I hadn't had a piggy-back ride in forever, and it felt nice to be carried this way. It made me feel like a child again.

"I wonder if Ciel got out alright," I murmured thoughtfully as we walked towards the tents. "We should look for him, shouldn't we?"

"He'll come find us when he's ready," Sebastian told me. I couldn't help feeling just a tiny bit worried, but I decided not to say anything more. I could see a few people staring at us curiously. A few had knowing expressions on their faces. I blushed and shut my eyes so it would look like I was asleep. When I opened them again, however, I was in front of Sebastian's tent.

I blinked, and then dug my chin into his head in a way that would have been painful for any normal human. "In case you weren't aware of this, Sebastian," I injected a hint of sarcasm into my tone. "This isn't my tent. It's yours." _Yours and Suit's_, I amended as said Reaper skirted past us and shoved the curtain aside to enter.

He glanced back at us and grimaced when his eyes landed on me. "Poor woman," he commented, although he didn't seem too upset. "Have you already Marked her?"

_Mark?_ What did he mean by that? "What does that mean?" I asked aloud. Suit entered the tent, and Sebastian followed with me on his back.

"To Mark," Sebastian smirked at Suit, even though his words were directed at me. "It means to mate."

_To...mate?_ My eyes widened and I leaned as far away from him as I could without falling. "That's it, put me down!" I unhooked my legs from around him and jumped down from his back, and then I took several steps backwards. "That is just..." I grimaced at Suit. "Why would you even ask that? I'm going to go find my tent before you corrupt me even more."

Before I could leave, however, the entrance of the tent opened to reveal Ciel. He was breathing hard, and his face was red and flushed. "You bastard!" He growled while taking deep breaths. "You knew I was still there when you freed the snakes, didn't you?" He suddenly started coughing. I frowned and spared Sebastian an annoyed scowl, before I moved over to Ciel.

He didn't even deny it. "Yes," Sebastian placed a hand to his chest. "You did order me to return before the first-stringers did and free them. Is there a problem, young master?" Ciel pulled away from me to snarl at his butler. "What are you glaring for?" Sebastian asked, still smiling. "Rest assured that I won't let you die while our contract holds."

_Yeah well, it's beginning to look like you don't care one way or another. _I didn't say anything, but I focused on Ciel. The red hadn't faded from his face, and I didn't like the way his skin seemed a bit clammy. Was he coming down with something after all?

"Every game needs its thrill," Sebastian kept talking while I studied Ciel. "You're such an avid player, I assumed you shared my opinion."

"Ha," Ciel smirked, and I detected a raspy tone to his voice. "Your game is in sickeningly bad taste, demon." That was the first time I'd ever heard Ciel refer to Sebastian as what he actually was.

Sebastian just smiled. "You flatter me." I looked from one to the other. Was this how they related? It would have been funny, if Ciel hadn't almost _died_. And, although it wasn't technically his fault, I was also going to blame Sebastian if he did get really sick.

Ciel shook his head and sighed. "Never mind this. I found a letter in Joker's tent that mentioned my name," he moved to lean against the wood of the bunk bed and coughed again. I really didn't like the way it sounded. "It had my rank, the location of my estate, and even a biographical sketch. It even-!"

"You there!" Suit suddenly poked Ciel's foot with his...whatever, causing the boy to hop back in shock. "You're three centimetres into my territory. If the master can't abide by our agreed-upon boundaries, then he's as bad as his dog."

I gazed at Suit curiously. "You really need to learn how to relax," I commented. Ciel coughed again, and my attention immediately flew back to him.

"Let's go outside." Outside, we found a shadowed place to talk. Since it was so cold outside, I had rushed to my tent to find my coat to wear. My anger at Sebastian had been renewed, and there was no way I was going to ask to wear his coat, or even let him offer. Ciel leaned against the wooden crates for support. "The sender used the name _Tom, the piper's son_," he informed us first.

"The Mother Goose character?" Sebastian asked. Ciel nodded. It was so cold outside that our breaths made icy crystals in the air.

"I don't know why though," he muttered. He had started shivering, and his cough was becoming worse. "The sealing wax showed a crest with a horse and the initial K."

"Then it's the same as the one I saw," Sebastian confirmed. "Signet rings generally engraved with a motif and an initial that represent the bearer or his family. This means that Tom the piper's son has a coat of arms featuring a horse."

I decided to say something, since neither of them seemed ready to actually acknowledge what was going on. "Ciel, you're shaking," I spoke up. "And you're coughing really badly. Can't we find somewhere else warmer to talk?"

He shot me an annoyed look and shook his head. "I'm fine, Thalia," he snapped. _No you aren't,_ I turned to Sebastian for help, but he also seemed determined to ignore Ciel's fragile state. _Dammit, are you both blind?!_

"Would a horse mean someone awarded with a knighthood?" The butler suggested. "Or perhaps a soldier?"

Ciel hacked again. "Not necessarily," he said. "But philanthropy is probably impossible without a bit of status," his cough was getting worse. "The heraldic authorities all have coats of arms in their registries. We have enough criteria to narrow it down so that however many they have..." he was interrupted by a particularly bad cough. "You should be able to find out who it is."

I couldn't stand it. I don't know how Sebastian could just _stand_ there and not bat a single eyelash. Ciel looked like he was about to collapse any second! "Ciel, please, let's go to the medical tent," I pleaded with him. "You sound really bad!"

He ignored me. His breaths were becoming faster and shallower. "The missing children, the circus, Tom the piper's son, and me..." his words dissolved into hacking coughs that racked his whole frame. He doubled over at the waist, a hand over his mouth and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Ciel!" I crouched beside him. "Goddammit Ciel! Quick," I yelled to Sebastian. "We have to get him to the medical tent, right now! Don't just _stand _there!" I pulled Ciel closer to myself and rubbed his back.

I felt him wrap an arm around my shoulders for support and he seemed to be struggling to pull himself upright again. "We'll go back...to the town house..." his eyes suddenly flew open and he threw up something that looked like mucus. My knowledge of medicine (like my knowledge of many things) was somewhat shallow, but very wide, and I immediately knew what was wrong with him. _Goddammit, why didn't he tell us he had asthma?_

"_Ciel!_" I pulled him away from the mess and into my arms. "Oh my god!"

"Young master!" Sebastian was suddenly by my side.

I whirled on him, panicked and angry. "Oh _now_ you care?!" I felt the pressure of a hand gripping my upper arm, and I looked back at Ciel. He looked like he wanted to say something, but exhaustion won out and he collapsed against me. _Oh god, oh god. Ciel, please be alright!_ I cupped his face and winced at the abnormal temperature of his skin. _Oh god, he's burning up!_

"Smile!" Sebastian and I turned around and spotted Ciel's roommate, the one he referred to as Freckles. "What happened?"

"Questions later," I snapped. "Help us get him to the medical tent first!" Sebastian took Ciel from me and the three of us hurried to the medical tent. The doctor was surprised to see us, but he sobered up the second he spotted the state Ciel was in.

In a few moments, Ciel was in one of the beds with a cool compress on his forehead. His face was pale and flushed, and he was sweating in spite of the chill of the night. I watched the unsteady, shallow way his chest rose and fell with every breath. "Is he going to be alright?"

The doctor pulled the blanket higher up Ciel's chest. "I believe so," he nodded. "It's asthma."

"Asthma?" Sebastian looked confused. "I've lived with him for three years and I've never seen him have a fit like this." I took the doctor's place by the side of the bed while he picked up a chart and studied it.

"If he hasn't had an attack in three years," he said. "Then he may essentially be cured. However, multiple factors may trigger a relapse. If he's been exposed to any stress or sudden chill, or if he's caught a cold…"

I reached out and cupped Ciel's cheek carefully. His skin was burning hot. "He's caught colds before, hasn't he?" I looked at Sebastian and then the doctor. _But he hasn't been drenched in freezing cold water in the middle of winter, has he?_ I turned my gaze back to the sick boy.

"There were probably multiple triggers this time," the doctor said. "And I hear he took a bath outside with our weight-lifting addicts." Freckles winced and looked away. "It's no wonder he caught a cold."

_No wonder indeed._ My eyes widened when Ciel's eyes fluttered open slowly. "Water…" his voice was rough and croaky. Sebastian was at his side in an instant with some water, which Ciel gulped down gratefully before dissolving into painful-sounding coughs. I ran my fingers through his hair comfortingly.

"Smile," the doctor asked. "Did you have a bad case of asthma as a boy?"

Ciel's pupils looked wide and dilated, and I got the feeling he wasn't actually seeing _us_. His eyes fixed on me. "Aunt An…" he murmured, and then his lids fell shut as though he had used up all his strength keeping them open.

_He's hallucinating,_ I sighed. "This is no good," the doctor said. "His mind is muddled. We'll have to keep a sharp watch until the fever and the coughing stop." Freckles left to get some ice, but I barely noticed him go. "What about you two?"

"We'd like to stay and help," Sebastian answered for both of us. There was no way I was leaving Ciel in this condition. Besides, I was still angry with Sebastian. If he had paid attention earlier, we could have gotten Ciel to the medical tent before he collapsed. All of this was partially his fault.

Therefore, I didn't speak to him beyond the necessary while we watched over Ciel. I bit my lip as I wet another towel with cold water and bathed Ciel's face and neck. His fever didn't seem to be coming down at all, and his breathing was noisier and shallower than it should have been. _Please be alright,_ I rested the cool towel on his forehead.

Sebastian came up behind me. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" He asked. I suddenly became aware of my own exhaustion. I had been fighting the urge to sink down and close my eyes, but it suddenly seemed to come upon me in an instant.

I shook my head to dispel the feeling and glared up at the demon. "I'm not going to sleep while Ciel's like this," I snapped. "Besides, I don't trust you to look after him right now."

The man clicked his tongue and touched my cheek. I winced. "You're exhausted, aren't you?" He murmured. "There's a bed on the other side that you can sleep in. Just rest…"

I don't know if it was just my own sleepiness, or the tone in his voice, but I felt myself slipping into the dark fog of sleep. My body slumped slightly, and I felt arms come around me and heft me up into strong arms. I felt something soft underneath me, and then a warm sensation against my forehead, and then I was gone.


	27. Deceit

**Quick re-edit, since I was in such a hurry to post this that I forgot to do some things. Also, to the guest who asked, Thalia is 19-20. I'm sorry if I didn't make this clear before, but I really wouldn't make her any younger than 18. I did mention early in the story that she is about five years older than Ciel, and Ciel is 13 (just about).**

**I don't own Black Butler, just Thalia**

**Deceit**

When I awoke, it couldn't have been more than an hour later. I blinked into the darkness, and briefly wondered where I was. _Oh, yes. I'm in the medical tent,_ the memory slipped back._ Ciel is here as well. _

_So where is Sebastian?_ I sat up and swung my legs out of the bed, before standing. The tent was dark, the candles had been blown out quite a while ago except for one in the corner of the tent. I could see the silhouette of the doctor behind the screen.

There was still light outside as well. I walked around the screen separating the two beds and stared down at Ciel. He looked like he was having a nightmare. He was turning back and forth on his pillow.

_Please be alright,_ I dropped a kiss on his forehead. _Please feel better._ Ciel groaned quietly in his sleep, and suddenly stilled entirely. If not for the flush on his face, and the fact that he was still breathing, I would have thought he was dead.

I stepped out of the tent, and that was when I heard voices coming from nearby, where he residential tents were. Familiar voices. _Is that Suit?_ I blinked. _And that's Sebastian. _"I'm afraid my master is indisposed right now," the butler spoke. "So I must carry out his errands."

"Return to the tent at once," Suit snapped. "I cannot allow you to act independently." When Sebastian did not immediately do what he asked, he suddenly attacked him with his scythe. "Small mistakes can lead to extreme overtime, as you can see."

Sebastian dodged the scythe easily, but then he suddenly stopped and grabbed the scythe by its blade. My eyes widened as something liquid dropped to the ground: blood. He was bleeding. It had never struck me that he could.

_And would you look at that, _I thought absently. _I was wrong. His blood _is_ red_.

Sebastian smirked at the reaper. "I'm sorry, but I do have my duties as a butler. I cannot allow you to disturb my master's sleep. Besides," he continued. "You wouldn't want to cause a scene, would you? Why don't we make a deal? If you give me one hour of freedom, I'll swear never to eat another soul in your territory again."

For a second, Suit looked tempted, but then he suddenly seemed to remember just who was speaking and his face hardened even more. "No thank you," he replied curtly. "Seducing your prey into darkness with sweet words," he ripped the blade out of Sebastian's grip harshly and splashed his blood on the ground. "Isn't that a demonic cliché?"

Sebastian only looked mildly upset. "I was afraid you'd say that," he sighed. "Well then," he peeled off his soiled, ripped glove and threw it away. "I suppose I'll just have to explore _other_ means then." The reaper glared at him silently, and then turned and walked away. Sebastian watched him silently, and then smiled. "Come out, darling…" I froze where I was. "I know you're here, Thalia."

After a second, I stepped out from behind the tent with a quiet huff. "You're hurt," I noted. I stared at the blood on his hand. The wound didn't seem to hurt him at all. "Are you alright? Why did you do that?"

I didn't notice I had gravitated towards him with ever word, until I was holding his injured hand in mine and inspecting the wound closely. Sebastian smirked down at me. "Hmm? So you do care for me after all." I hissed and scowled up at him, and then I dropped his hand entirely. "How is he?"

"He's fine," I folded my arms across my chest. "He's asleep right now. When I left, he was having a nightmare," I closed my eyes and sighed. "I hope he's feeling better now…" My eyes opened and I stared at the blood on my hands. Sebastian's blood. "We should clean this off now," I told him. "Before someone sees us and thinks we killed someone."

We used Sebastian's coat to wipe off the blood. It was black so the stains wouldn't show up easily on the fabric. While we did this, Sebastian filled me in on what Ciel had ordered him to do, which was basically: _find out who the crest on the signet ring belongs to_.

Unfortunately, Suit had interrupted Sebastian's mission, so he couldn't leave the circus encampment without inciting the wrath of the reaper. Now he now had to figure out a way to get the information needed before the end of the night.

With the majority of the blood gone from his hands, I could see the black sign of the Faustian contract on Sebastian's skin. I had never seen it before, as he was almost always wearing his gloves to hide it.

The more I stared at it, the more I didn't like it. It had such horrible connotations that the mere sight of it made me feel tense and nauseous.

I bit down on my bottom lip, probably harder than I should have. Fingers lifted my chin and I blinked as dark red eyes fixed on my mouth. "You're bleeding," Sebastian noted. I blinked again and tasted something warm and coppery in my mouth. _Oh, I am._ My hand lifted to wipe away the blood, but then a hand held it away and the gentle fingers turned forceful. "Let me…"

As I think about this now, I suppose I could have refused him. I could have turned away and let his lips connect with my cheek or chin. Instead, I let my lashes flutter halfway shut and stood still as his lips covered mine.

That brief moment of compliance was, as I said, brief. I quickly snapped out of my Sebastian-induced haze and ripped myself away from him. "What are you doing?" I hissed at him.

Sebastian arched an eyebrow and licked his lip. "What did it seem like?" He smiled. "What?" His voice became softer, more seductive. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it…" I spluttered at his (accurate) deduction and whirled around so I wasn't facing him, so he couldn't see the blush staining my cheeks. I heard him chuckle lowly. "How adorable," his words were laced with amusement.

"Shut up," I spat the words over my shoulders. "I'm not really in the mood to have you flirt with me." Tonight had just been one strike after another for him. First, I find out that he looked between Beast's legs, then he didn't get Ciel to the medical tent in time, and then he had kissed me without my consent.

I mean, I hadn't _fought_ him, but that was understandable right? The tattoo on his hand had distracted me. Besides, the other two were bad already.

Arms came around me suddenly, and I found myself held against the man in question. My body moulded firmly against his own and I gasped. "What have I done, my darling?" I tensed as soft words, laced with desire and warmth, slid over my skin like a caress. "Tell me. Let me make it better…"

A shaky breath slipped past my lips. His hand trailed down my arm and caught mine, bringing it up. I turned my head away and felt, more than I saw him press a firm kiss to my knuckles. My cheeks flamed even as my lips twisted into a frown. "Would you quit it?" I pulled away from him and yanked sharply on his ear, a move I remembered from my childhood days.

To my surprise, Sebastian's eyes widened and he hissed quietly. For a moment, I wondered if I had actually managed to hurt him (ha, not likely), and then his arms shot out and I found myself pressed flush against his body, my back to his front. I whimpered when he rolled his hips forward and pressed closer to me.

"_Mmm_," he hummed into my ear huskily. "You do play the part of the dominant mistress well," his tongue teased the sensitive skin behind my ear and I made a sound in my throat. "And yet, you can be so submissive. Tell me," he lowered his head and I jerked when I felt him drag his teeth across the skin of my neck, right over the marking. "How do you feel about this?"

_This? _He nipped at my neck and I choked on a pleasured sob. Oh. _Oh..._ So Sebastian liked this stuff? Biting, and pain? _Well that makes perfect sense. _"S-Sebastian..." I had more words than that, so where had they all gone?

"Yes, Thalia?" His tongue dragged against my jaw, and then he pulled away slightly. "Thalia..." Fingers brushed against my bottom lip, and I was surprised by the sudden urge I had to lap at them, to let my mouth fall open so they could slide in. "What is it?" I bit down on my bottom lip as his hand left my mouth and traced the curve of my waist and hip. He teased the hem of my skirt.

_This isn't right,_ the sane, less passion-addled part of my brain screamed at me. _He's going too far! You're outside for goodness's sake! Someone might see the two of you!_

Almost immediately, I heard voices nearby and I suddenly found myself able to move. I pulled away from him and clapped a hand over his mouth while I strained my ears to place the voices. "_What's wrong?_" That was Joker. "_Can't 'ee sleep?_"

"_Let's stop this._" That was Beast. _Stop what? _Why did she sound so sad? I jerked when I felt something warm and wet lap at my fingers. I whipped my hand away and shot Sebastian a dirty look while I wiped my hand on my skirt. He just smiled back at me, unruffled. "_We have this circus. I know we can make a living!_"

I frowned. The tone of her voice was more than just simple care. She was in love with him. "_Over the hills and far away, eh?_" However, Joker's voice didn't reflect the same emotion. "_We can't, and I ain't got no time to talk about it._"

It was almost painful, seeing how much she was hurting. She loved him, but he didn't love her, but she was still hanging on. He didn't want to hurt her but, at the same time, what he was doing hurt more. Dragging out her feelings, acting sweet, keeping just a little bit of hope burning in her heart that he would one day look at her the way she wanted him to.

"How pitiful," Sebastian commented lowly. I pinched his wrist harshly, knowing it wouldn't hurt him. He just took my hand in his with a thoughtful look on his face. "I suppose the only way I can find out the owner of the signet ring is by asking one of the first-stringers."

_And you want to ask her._ It was a good plan. She was vulnerable right now, and hurting. She wouldn't be thinking straight. If he played his cards right (and he obviously would) Beast would end up spilling the beans before the night was up.

Unfortunately, I wasn't about to let him do that. I don't know, but something clenched angrily in my gut at the very thought. I didn't want him _anywhere_ near her. He had already violated her once already.

Alright that wasn't the main reason, but I would stick with it because it gave me the moral high ground in my head. "Let me talk to her," I untangled my fingers from his and smoothened down the fabric of my skirt that he had roughened up. "We're both female," I told him when he arched an eyebrow at me. "She might find it easier to talk to me. Besides, I'm not about to let you seduce the answer out of her."

To my chagrin, his lips curved up in a knowing smirk. "Why, Thalia," he said. "Is that jealousy I hear?"

_Yes. _"No. Shut up," I snapped quietly, to both him and my subconscious, and turned to walk away. Before I could, I felt something drop around my shoulders. His coat. I suddenly realised that it had been quite cold without it. Muttering something along the lines of _thank you_, I stepped out from behind the tent. "Beast?" I widened my eyes to one of mild surprise and confusion. "Are you alright?"

She froze, and then seemed to be struggling to get rid of her tears. "Oh, it's you," she sneered and got to her feet. "You're with Black, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

I shrugged and walked closer to her, plucking at the fabric of Sebastian's coat. "I couldn't sleep," I lied. "What about you? You seem…distraught." She made a sarcastic noise in the back of her throat. I cocked my head to the side. "Is there anything I can do?"

Beast scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. "Not unless you know a way to make someone fall in love with you," she choked on the words and glared at me. "Leave me alone, newbie. This is none of your business."

"Probably," I nodded in agreement. "But I've heard that talking your problems out is therapeutic. If it makes you feel any better," I shrugged. "I'll share as well."

She arched an eyebrow at me and eyed the black coat hanging over my shoulders. "Isn't that Black's?" I nodded and she scowled, but not at me. "He doesn't seem like the best person to care for."

_Maybe. _Now that I thought about it, Sebastian really didn't seem like the sort of person I would have considered being attracted to (I refuse to say _love_) before I'd met the Phantomhives, but I could muse about that later. I shrugged and drifted closer to her. "He probably isn't, but the heart is confused isn't it?" I curled my fingers around the metal rails and leaned against them. "What about you?" I turned the conversation back to her. "Why do you love Joker?"

The beast tamer jerked like I had hit her. "Wh-what makes you think I'm in love with Joker?" She stuttered, looking half angry and half stunned.

"I heard his voice earlier," I confessed. "Besides, I don't hear you denying it," I pointed out. She glared at me for a few more seconds, and then she exhaled softly. With that, most of the fight left her. I watched as she leaned against the railings and stared at the ground silently. "I'm right, aren't I?"

It wasn't really a question. Beast nodded her head and glanced at me. "We've been together for as long as I can remember," she told me softly. "He was a bit like our leader when we were all younger, before Father took us in. Even after that, he still took care of us."

Joker had mentioned that all of the first stringers were childhood friends. _Leader, huh? Did they live on the streets then? _"Father?" I blinked at her. _The owner of the crest._ "He adopted you, right? Is that his sign on your prosthetic leg?" Beast shot me an odd look. "Black told me," I added quickly. "He practically rubbed it in my face."

She winced sympathetically. "Men," she shook her head with a tiny smile. "But, yes. He's our patron. Father paid for us to have new bodies, and so we belong to him," her voice grew harder near the end. "We have to do everything he tells us."

_And you don't want that anymore, do you? _Did that mean that this Father was the one behind the children's disappearances? "Who is he anyway?" I made sure to sound as neutral as possible, but with just a hint of curiousity.

Beast stared at me warily. "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't know," I shrugged and looked up at the clear sky that glittered with stars. "I felt that, since we're sharing, I might as well ask," I took her hand in mine and smiled at her gently. "What's the harm in telling me anyway?"

Ten minutes later, we parted ways, and I had the information I needed from her. Instead of feeling pleased with myself, I just felt sick. I had lied to her. I had lied and twisted the truth to get what I wanted out of her.

_Why do I feel this way?_ I saw, in my mind's eye, the soft smile she had given me before she had left me alone and sitting on the rails in the light of the lamps. _I was a street rat. My very survival hinged on my ability to act and deceive the people around me. _

_So why do I feel so disgusted with myself?_ I paused to lean against the side of a tent as my body shuddered and tried to dispel the contents of my stomach. Shivers wracked my body and I fell to my knees in the dirt.

_Sebastian would be so proud of me._

I jerked and threw up into the grass.

* * *

oOo

* * *

I suppose Sebastian must have carried me back to the medical tent. Honestly, the rest of the night was nothing but a dark blue and gold blur and I couldn't remember much of it when I awoke the following morning. I shoved the memory of what I had done to the back of my mind and sat up in the small cot.

Sebastian was here. I could hear him on the other side of the screen, and then I heard another voice. _Ciel! He's awake!_ I hopped down from my bed and ran around to wrap my arms around his body gently. "I'm so glad you're awake!" I pulled back to stare at him critically. "Are you feeling any better?"

He coughed. "Better than yesterday, at the very least," he coughed again and Sebastian passed him a glass of water. "Where are your gloves?" He spared a brief glance at the butler's hand. "Your nails and the mark of our contract are showing."

"Ah," Sebastian looked down as though he had just noticed that. "I'm afraid I got them a bit dirty," he confessed. I took the glass from the boy and placed it on the table while Sebastian pulled the covers down. "We have all the information we need," he picked Ciel up. "There's no one watching, so we can leave while everyone is at breakfast. Oh, and don't worry," he smirked. "I'll be sure not to mention to Lady Elizabeth that you shared your bed with another young woman."

I gathered Ciel's clothes from the bed while Sebastian continued to taunt the young boy, and then we took our leave of the tent. I made sure to wrap the scarf around Ciel's neck properly before we stepped outside, and we hadn't gone far before we came across Suit.

Sebastian and I stopped walking. Ciel had fallen asleep almost immediately. His fever had broken, but he still needed to sleep away the last dregs of the illness. "We've finished our business here," Sebastian informed him curtly. "So we'll be taking our leave."

"Feel free," Suit said as we walked past him. "I don't care as long as your master is with you." I eyed the reaper for a second. With us gone, he could relax now. We were now out of the other's way.

Compared to the tents, the Phantomhive mansion felt like…well…a mansion. Or a castle. It felt larger, and a thousand times more comfortable than I remembered. _I wonder if they've noticed we're gone,_ I thought to myself. It had been almost an hour since we'd quit the circus itself.

Soma and Agni were there to welcome us the second we stepped through the doors. "Where have you been?" Soma yelled at Ciel. "You left for two days without even a word!" _Well hello to you too, Soma. _

Behind him, Agni clapped his hands together with a smile. "Welcome home!" I mirrored the action, but I couldn't get myself to smile as widely as I would have liked. Ciel muttered something scathing about the Indian prince, and then began coughing hard.

"What's wrong?" Soma stood aside as Sebastian carried the sick earl into the warmth of the mansion. "You look so pale!"

"It's nothing serious," Ciel croaked over Sebastian's shoulder. "Just leave me be."

Soma hurried after us. "Of course it's serious!" He cried. "You've obviously caught a cold! You probably have a fever!" Of course, Ciel denied everything. Even when it was so clear and obvious, I wondered how he could still turn his back on the truth.

Sebastian shut the door of Ciel's room, leaving the prince on the other side. "You are fond of secrets and lies, aren't you?" He set Ciel down in the middle of the room and I undid the knot of his scarf. "You've been chronically ill since infancy, and I had no idea." I disappeared into the en-suite bathroom and reappeared with a bowl, a towel and a jug of hot water. I placed the things on the table beside the bed. "Why did you never tell me?" Sebastian poured the steaming hot water into the bowl and soaked the towel in it.

Ciel breathed softly and closed his eyes. "You didn't ask, so I didn't answer," he replied easily. "Besides, I grew out of it."

_But you relapsed, didn't you? _"I'll read a medical text on asthma, just in case," Sebastian squeezed excess water out of the cloth. I turned my back on the two of them and stared out of the window, but I still focused on the conversation behind me. I wasn't ready to be alone with my thoughts just yet. "A good butler is prepared for anything."

Ciel scoffed. "Never mind that," he said. "Just report your findings to the heraldic authorities. The crest on the seal belongs to the Baron Kelvin."

_Kelvin. _That was Father. I shoved the memory back again. "Do you know him?" Sebastian asked.

"Not really," Ciel replied. "I don't fancy _philanthropists_ all that much, but I think I may have met him at a party the previous earl took me to."

_The previous earl?_ What an impersonal way to refer to your own father.

I turned around only when I was sure that Ciel was more or less decent. "Well, that doesn't matter," he sighed. "All we need is his name, at any rate. We're going out," he threw on his cloak and grabbed his cane.

We would have left, half-sick Ciel or not, had we not opened the door to reveal Agni standing there, arms and legs spread to block the door. Ciel stared at the Indian silently, and I blinked. _Well, this is strange. Would anyone care to explain?_

Enter, Soma. "Not so fast, Ciel!" Soma popped his head out from behind his _khansama_. "Don't think you'll have such an easy time escaping this town house!" At that moment, Ciel looked so done with Soma. "I _know_ you've caught a cold," he marched forward, forcing Ciel backwards and further into the room. "As the viceroy of this estate, and your dear friend, I cannot allow you to leave."

"Who made you my '_dear friend_'?" Ciel yelled at him. "Don't be daft!" He stepped past the prince.

Soma whirled around. "Agni, don't let Ciel past you!"

"Listen you two, I have work to do!" The earl glowered at the two foreigners. "I haven't got time to play games with you. Move aside!" Unfortunately, his angry order was underplayed by his sudden coughing fit. I patted him on the back gently.

Soma shook his head firmly. "A sick person's job is to stay in bed and be looked after!" He insisted.

"Ciel, I have to agree with Soma on this issue," I stared at him pleadingly. "You aren't completely well yet. You shouldn't go out in this sort of weather."

Still, he kept denying it. I really hoped what had happened last night wouldn't happen again. That had been a terrifying experience. "Don't presume to touch me!" Ciel slapped Agni's hand away from him. _I wish you weren't so stubborn,_ I stared down at the young male silently. _You could have died not 24 hours ago, and yet you're acting like this. _"Sebastian, get those two out of my way!"

"Very good, my lord." I glared at Sebastian acidly. _Do you even care about Ciel in any way beyond being a future meal?_

Suddenly, someone spoke up and said the words I'd been wanting to say. "Sebastian, you ought to be ashamed!" Agni stood up and glared at the smiling, black-clad butler. "And you call yourself Lord Ciel's _khansama_!?"

Sebastian stared at the man, surprised and curious. "Pardon?"

"As a fellow _khansama_," Agni shook his head. "No, as your friend, I must speak my mind! The health of our masters is our first concern! Don't you think you should stop Lord Ciel for the same of his health, even if it goes against his orders? We ensure that our masters are always in good spirits and good health! We stake our lives to do it! That is the butler aesthetic, is it not?!"

There was silence for a few seconds, during which I conducted an imaginary standing ovation for Agni in my mind, and Sebastian considered the man's words. "I consider my role to fulfil my master's wishes," he mused. "But, there _is_ something to be said for your method of thinking."

_Hooray for Sebastian not being a complete jerk! _"Hey, don't let him turn you!" Ciel whirled around to shout at Sebastian. "My orders-!"

"Now that that's settled," Soma cut him off cheerfully. "Let's get you back into bed! I'll personally nurse you back to health, so be grateful! Agni, porridge and herbal infusion!"

"Certainly!"

"Hey, don't just-!"

"Ciel's _khansamas_, bring nightclothes and ice packs!"

"Right away!"

"At once."

"Oi!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

An hour or so later, Ciel was sitting in bed, dressed in white nightclothes with a thermometer in his mouth and a disgruntled look on his face. "Well, that's a load of our minds!" Soma beamed down at the annoyed earl. _This is all for your own good,_ I smiled at Ciel. If anything, his glare became even more pronounced.

I pulled the thermometer out of his mouth and examined it. Soma and Agni left the room with the now-empty plate herb-infused porridge. "Just try to relax, Ciel," I told him as Sebastian pulled the covers up to his neck. "Your temperature isn't that high. You should be fine soon."

"We've made good progress on the case at any rate," Sebastian tucked the fabric around him and straightened. "So you can afford to take their suggestion and rest for the day." I picked up Ciel's coat and went to find a hanger for it. As I did, I felt something in the pocket.

It was a lollipop. To be specific, it was a caramel flavoured, Funtom Company made lollipop. I stared at it curiously, wondering where Ciel would have gotten it. _Freckles, probably,_ I decided, slipping it into the pocket of my maid uniform. Ciel wouldn't want it now, and he probably wouldn't even miss it.

_I miss Morgan_, I sighed as I wrapped my tongue around the candy in my mouth an hour later. It tasted sweet and creamy. _I miss Pluto._ I wanted to wrap my arms around something and cuddle into another creature's warmth, and find solace and calm in that.

No matter how many times I tried to tell myself that what I had done was for the good of children, it still hit me hard: I had lied to Beast. I could deal with many things, but pretending to care about someone had always been something I hated. _And now I've done the exact same thing._

_But it was for a good reason. _I shook my head and pushed another box aside so I could continue my foray into the secrets of the attic. Ciel was asleep, and Soma was playing doctor with him, so I had decided to explore the one part of the mansion that I hadn't had the chance to before.

It was mostly dust, and some boxes and old furniture, but mostly dust. There were a few random things strewn here and there, like table lamps and board games set in small stacks. There was even an old chessboard amongst them with all the pieces still intact.

There was something calming about what I was doing, I decided. I smiled slightly as I shifted the box I had been examining away and reached for the next. Maybe I was being nosy and overstepping my bounds a bit, but I'd been doing that since I started working at the mansion and I had yet to be properly rebuked.

Most of the boxes were filled with books and old clothes that survived the fire that had consumed the mansion. I shut the box I had been going through and pushed it away to begin on the next one. As I did, a bird landed on the windowsill of the room. It trilled something cheery, and then cut itself off with a hurried flutter of wings. _Did I scare it off?_

Soft creaks alerted me to someone else's arrival. "Thalia?" Ah, of course. Him. Sebastian had that effect on _normal_ animals (except cats). He stared down at me curiously. "What are you doing up here?"

I twisted the candy in my mouth and pulled it out. "I got bored," I answered briefly, and then I shoved the stick back into my mouth and opened the box in front of me. It was filled with red clothes. They were a bit faded, but still in good condition. _So much red._

The box was filled with clothes and fabrics in all shades of red. Wine, burgundy, scarlet, cerise, blood, so many types all folded together inside the box. "You shouldn't look through other people's things," Sebastian knelt down beside me, but he didn't stop me.

"Why not?" I asked, burrowing further into the clothes. "The owner is dead, isn't she? The dead have no use for anything." My fingers brushed against something between the fabrics and I pulled it out carefully.

A photograph. It was a small, slightly blurry image of a woman with short, neatly cut hair. She looked familiar, but I couldn't place her at all. "Madame Red," Sebastian put a name to the woman's face. "She was the young master's aunt. She was killed by Jack the Ripper." The way he said it, made it clear that there was a bit more to it than that, but I decided not to ask.

I brought the photograph closer to my face and scrutinized her features curiously. "It's weird," I murmured. "I feel like I've seen her somewhere before…"

**No One's POV**

Sebastian's eyes went from the woman in the picture, to the woman by his side. Of course Madame Red looked familiar, he mused. She saw her face every time she looked in the mirror.

It wasn't something that you'd notice at first glance, but with the photograph close by as comparison it was clear as day. Past the white hair and lightly tanned skin, Thalia looked like a younger version of Ciel's aunt.

_That's impossible, _Sebastian stared at Thalia contemplatively and his gaze alighted on the tips of her hair. Red, the same shade of red as the woman in the photograph. He pictured what she would look like if her hair was red all through. The similarity was uncanny.

_That makes no sense. _Madame Red hadn't had any children at all. After her accident, her womb had been removed.

_She could be illegitimate,_ he considered the theory, and then dismissed it almost immediately. He had seen Madame Red's cinematic records, and there had been no trace of her ever having a lover at any point in her life.

_Then, _he watched the woman beside him as she examined a red dress. _Might it simply be a coincidence?_


	28. Miniature Circus

**I'm glad so many people liked the fact that I made Thalia feel bad about the whole **_**lying to Beast **_**thing. And about that whole Madame Red thing *evil laugh* well, I guess only I know how it happened *evil laugh intensifies until I start choking***

**Anyway, I don't own Black Butler**

**Miniature Circus**

Ciel slept for the whole day, and well into the next. He was still asleep when the clock chimed twelve noon. "Should we wake him up?" I wondered. The steaming plate of Chicken Cordon Bleu felt nice and warm in my hands, and smelled heavenly. "His fever has gone down, hasn't it?"

Agni nodded, as did Sebastian. "His breathing sounds normal, and his colour is much better than yesterday," the butler noted. "No, I don't think we should wake him up."

"He should be alright," Agni smiled. I relaxed and put the bowl of soup on the tray. Soma lay asleep on a chair at the foot of the bed. He and Agni had stayed up all night to watch Ciel with us. I would have, but Sebastian had insisted (read _forced_) me into bed. Today was the day we were going to raid the Baron's house, and I did need to be wide awake for that.

Sebastian picked up the now-warm bowl of water and turned away from the bed. "They do say sleep is man's best medicine," he smiled. "We should leave him to sleep. Thalia?" I nodded and followed him out of the room. I waited for Agni to pick up the sleeping prince, before I shut the door behind all of us and hurried to catch up with Sebastian.

"Excuse me, Sebastian..." The butler paused and looked back at Agni curiously. "I apologise for getting carried away yesterday and raising my voice," Agni bowed slightly. _Why are you apologising? You were right._

"Nonsense," Sebastian smiled. "It was very illuminating advice."

"I couldn't presume to give you advice!" Agni shook his head hurriedly. "You are a much more perfect _khansama_ than I am." _No, he really isn't. I mean, I bet you'd never set snakes loose in Soma's vicinity. _I didn't say that, but Sebastian glanced at me like he could read my thoughts.

"But you're not kind enough," a new voice, faintly groggy with sleep, spoke up from behind Agni. _Ah, so Soma's awake?_ "I'm not!" He hissed in response to Agni's spoken question, and my unspoken one. "You're the one talking now. Move your lips! He's scary to talk to!"

_Ah, so Sebastian still terrifies him huh?_ I giggled quietly into my hand. Agni sighed, but complied, moving his lips in accordance with what his charge was saying. I noticed, with some amusement, that Soma had even pitched his voice lower to sound more like Agni's. "_You're nowhere as kind to your master as I am,_" he said.

Sebastian frowned sadly, pulling out the sad puppy dog eyes. "I'm not kind?" I suddenly wanted to cuddle him and hug him tightly. _Huh, that's new,_ I blinked in surprise._ But you really aren't all that kind actually._

Luckily Soma couldn't see Sebastian's sad face, so his words weren't changed. "_That's right. Ciel is still a boy. He should get to lie about all day and be spoilt by his parents when he's sick. But he doesn't have parents._"

His voice became normal again. "Not that I really had them either," he said. "So my elderly servant and Meena were kind and spoiled me rotten in their place. You should be kind, like Thalia, and coddle Ciel as much as you can!" He suddenly leaped down from Agni's shoulders and ran away, disappearing behind a corner. And then he popped his head out again quickly to yell, "Make sure you do it!"

"My prince!" Agni dissolved into a fit of sheer adoration for his charge. "What a kind heart you have!" We left him to it, and headed to the kitchen.

I looked down into the bowl of chicken. It had gone cool, but it still smelled pretty good. _I'm hungry. _"I think you should take Soma's advice into consideration," I looked up at Sebastian. "Despite what's happened to him, Ciel is still pretty young."

_I'm going to eat this soup. Ciel won't want it, and things that are cooled and then re-heated usually don't taste as good as they did before._

Sebastian glanced down at me with a contemplative look on his face. "There may be merit to both your words," he suddenly reached out and brushed a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. When I jerked and squeaked at the unexpected caress, he chuckled and pulled away. "I have several things I need to do," he suddenly dumped the bowl he'd been holding into my arms and I had to struggle to rearrange everything before it crashed to the ground. "Enjoy the soup."

I stared after him, and snorted silently. _Strange._ At least he didn't deny me the soup, which tasted pretty fantastic in spite of being lukewarm by the time I got to the kitchen. As I was taking my final sip, a phone rang somewhere in the house.

_I wonder who's calling,_ I thought as I scrubbed the bowl clean, and started on the other dirty items in the sink. _Maybe it's one of the servants? How many people know we're here anyway?_

_...it could be the Chinese bastard. Please don't let it be the Chinese bastard though._ I'd opened his Christmas present (much later in the day as I had been in shock after the whole mistletoe-locked-in-closet episode) to find a black, translucent, clingy piece of fabric, along with a bunch of erotic literature, including the same book Bard had gotten me.

Honestly, what was it with people giving me those books?! Mey-Rin was the one who liked them for Pete's sake!

I don't know what Sebastian's present was, but it must have been a pair to mine (going by the way he wouldn't stop _staring_ at me for the rest of the day. Needless to say, I sold all the books. Well, not so much _sold_ as I abandoned them on the front porch of a pawn shop wrapped in newspaper like a bunch of kittens I hadn't wanted.

Speaking of kittens, I couldn't find any of Morgan's kittens after that day. Minthe was still around, and she spent most of her time tailing her mother, but I couldn't find any of the others. At first I'd been panicked, but then I figured Sebastian had something to do with it.

As for the negligee...I kept it. Don't give me that look! I didn't do it for Sebastian! I did it because it was a nice piece of clothing and I don't own many nice things, alright? Besides, maybe I could wear it during the summer nights when it got too hot.

"Thalia?" I jumped and hissed as the knife I had been washing clattered noisily into the sink. A sharp pain ran up my arm, and I lifted my hand to see a thin cut running over the first knuckle of my pointer finger. It didn't look deep, but it stung a bit.

I whirled around to glare at the butler I had just been thinking about. "Don't sneak up on people!" I scolded. A drop of blood welled up from the slit. "Now look what you made me do!" I hurriedly stuck my finger under the water to wash away the blood.

Something I had noticed about Sebastian: he liked blood. Specifically, he liked _my _blood. Every time I got wounded, he was always there to turn something that should be physically painful into something that could only be described as a sexual act.

A part of me wanted to be freaked out, but I had gotten used to it quite a while ago. It sort of made sense, given what he was...

Anyway, I quickly wiped my finger against my skirt and hid the injured digit within the fabric, before I turned around to face him. "What do you want anyway?" I asked him. "Who called?"

He was still staring at my hidden finger with an almost disappointed look on his face, but he pulled his gaze up to meet mine. "Tanaka," he replied. "Apparently Lady Elizabeth is visiting the manor, and plans to stay there until Ciel returns."

_Lady Elizabeth?_ Oh, right, Ciel's cousin/fiancée that almost got turned into a puppet. I hadn't really gotten to know her too well, beyond her strange penchant for cute things and great love for Ciel, but judging by the way the other servants reacted when she arrived and after she left, I could tell that her visits weren't all that cheerily anticipated.

"So, what did you tell Tanaka?" I blinked up at Sebastian. "Ciel isn't well yet, and we're still not done with the case. We don't even know where Kelvin lives!"

Sebastian just smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling it out from behind the folds of my apron. "Why don't you leave that to me?" He pressed a kiss to the cut on my hand. I felt his tongue dart out for a second, and then he pulled away. When he looked up, his eyes were glowing faintly, and then a second later I was staring at an empty kitchen. The curtains of the window beside me fluttered wildly.

_...why am I affiliated with such a person?_

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian returned two hours later, looking attractively windswept, but still more put together than anyone should after darting through the length and breadth of country. However, I did not mention this to him. Instead, the first thing I said to him the second he reappeared in the house was "it's nearly dinnertime."

Another hour later, dinner was ready and had been transferred up the stairs and into Ciel's bedroom. The boy was still asleep, but he'd been sleeping for nearly twelve hours. I was sure he'd wake up soon. Hopefully before the food went cold.

I was debating waking him up myself when I saw his lashes flutter gently and crack open. For a second, he looked groggy and confused, and then he suddenly snapped wide awake and sat up. "What time is it?!"

"Just past seven in the evening," Sebastian replied, snapping his pocket-watch shut.

Ciel's robe hung on the back of a nearby chair. I grabbed it and draped it over his shoulders as he glowered at Sebastian and me with irritation. "Why did neither of you wake me?"

"You were still rather feverish," I smoothed the fabric of his robe over his shoulders and straightened. "It seemed to be in your best interest to let you sleep it off."

Sebastian rolled the tray closer to Ciel's bedside. "Tonight's dinner is a creamy, three-mushroom risotto, and a pork and wine _pot-au-feu_. For pudding, we have warm apple compote with yogurt."

_Ciel eats pretty well, _I eyed the spread and the young male curiously. _Why aren't you heavier/chubbier/ stronger?_

"Now, young master," Sebastian lifted the plate of risotto and a spoon to Ciel's lips. "Say _ah..._"

To say Ciel was shocked would be an understatement. He shuddered, whether in horror, disgust, or a mix of both emotions, and shifted away from his butler. "Wh-what are you playing at!?" He grimaced and eyed the food like it had been poisoned, even though he of all people knew that he demon wouldn't do that.

_Sebastian, you don't have to feed him. I understand the whole coddle and spoil him bit, but Ciel really isn't going to let you of all people spoon-feed him._

Actually, I doubt he'd let anyone do that unless he became an invalid or somehow lost both his arms.

"You're being revolting," Ciel snarled. "I order you to stop it this instant!"

I clicked my tongue quietly. "In his defence, Soma did tell him that the ill were to be spoiled rotten," I shrugged and folded my arms across my chest. "I suppose that only works for certain people, doesn't it?"

Ciel scoffed. "Spare me that coddling," he snapped. "It disgusts me and makes my skin crawl."

"Does it?" Sebastian smiled like he found Ciel's words funny. "I apologise, my lord." Ciel was weak, but not weak enough to ask for our help.

Half an hour later, all the food was gone, and I'd taken the tray downstairs while Ciel dressed and prepared to leave for Kelvin's home. If we wanted to get this case over and done with, then we had to leave that night.

Unfortunately, there was an obstacle barring our way in the form of a 17 year old Indian prince. "Ciel, you're trying to leave again aren't you?"

In all honesty, I tried to distract him before he noticed, but I don't think Agni would have taken too kindly to having his charge's muscles rendered temporarily useless and then finding him shoved in a kitchen cupboard.

"Oh great," Ciel stared down at Soma from the top of the stairs. "It's the noisy one." _Why does Prince Soma have a stick?_ "I heard you stayed up all night watching me." Soma paused mid-rant and nodded. "Thank you, I'm as fit as a fiddle thanks to you!" Ciel smiled a smile I'd never seen on his face, and I had to look down to hide the frown on my face.

_So you can only look like that when you're lying?_

At least he managed to distract Soma long enough for the three of us to sneak past him and depart the mansion. "Alright," I glanced up at the waxing face of the moon, and then I looked at Sebastian and Ciel. "Who's riding where?"

In response, Ciel motioned to the butler, who picked him up bridal style, or like a newborn.

I hissed and took a step back. "Oh no, I am _not_ riding on your back in this sort of skirt!" The sound of Soma shouting inside the mansion made me wince, and I hopped onto his back quickly. "Don't make me regret this."

Sebastian just smirked. "I wouldn't dream of it, Thalia."

* * *

oOo

* * *

A journey that should have taken a day, minimum, took only an hour. I had my eyes shut during most of it, since the wind blowing against my face only served to dry out my corneas and sting my cheeks.

The Baron Kelvin's mansion was everything I expected: huge, dark, and seemingly devoid of life. I didn't like it. The second Sebastian landed inside the estate and set us down, I made sure to hang by his side. I felt much calmer when I was beside him, and then I caught myself. _What are you doing? What about Ciel? If he isn't panicking, then neither should you!_

"So this is the estate," Ciel eyed the grounds quickly before turning to the demon. "Well, does it smell?"

Sebastian lifted his head. "Yes," he replied. "I don't know if they're all here, but those that are seem to be well." _Well, I suppose that's rather reassuring._ He glanced down at me and I wondered if he'd seen the uneasy look in my eyes before I looked away.

We made our way to the front door but before Ciel could even lift a hand to use the knocker, the door swung open to reveal a familiar face. "Welcome to the manor," Joker greeted us calmly as the large door creaked further open. "We've been expecting you, Lord Phantomhive."

_Joker._ It felt a bit surreal, seeing him in such an unfamiliar setting. He looked...different. Colder, and less genial than his circus persona. In spite of his familiar outfit, I couldn't see him as the same person who had danced around in the circus ring and juggled multicoloured balls and pins for little children.

_Still, at the same time,_ I looked away and followed Ciel into the house._ I couldn't see him as a killer before. Him, Beast, Dagger, Peter, Wendy, even Doll._ They were all killers, and this was simply justice being meted out on them in the form of thirteen year old earl with a demon butler.

The interior of the house was dark and smelled faintly musty. There was something almost _human _about the scent, like the interior of a morgue. I heard Joker snap his fingers, and something creaked quietly in the darkness. Something moved, and I found myself taking a step closer to Ciel just in case whatever it was turned out to be harmful.

A match flared to life above us, and I looked up in time to see flames travel along linked strings to light strategically placed lamps on the walls. As more lamps were lit, the more of the room we could see, until all were flickering brightly.

Ciel gasped in shock, and I couldn't help the shudder than snaked through my body. _No, this isn't creepy at all,_ I winced as I gazed at the half-formed bodies of the dolls. I've had terrible experiences with dolls, if you can recall, but at least those ones were fully formed and didn't look like the half-finished fruits of some twisted experiment.

The bodies were arranged in strange places. Some were placed on couches, others were attached to picture frames on the walls, several hung by threads from the ceilings, and yet others were tossed into cages or strewn about on the ground. There were eyes, and limbs, and hands, and heads without bodies, just lying around.

Joker didn't seem bothered by the scene before him. "This way please," he directed us up a flight of stairs. I was glad to get away from the room, but now I couldn't help wondering what sort of person Baron Kelvin was. For him to decorate his front room that way, was he simply insane?

Sebastian leaned down to whisper in Ciel's ear. "Well young master?" He asked. "Shall we kill him now and rescue the children?"

"No," Ciel replied. The stairs ended and we found ourselves in a fairly normal-looking corridor. "If the children are still alive, then it's probably best to capture Kelvin first. We can't report to Her Majesty without knowing the situation or his motives.

_Why are all the paintings in this corridor of small, blonde, picturesque children?_ I remembered the last doll/puppet-maniac I had met. _I hope we aren't dealing with a similar case._ All of the children in the images resembled bisque dolls, with flowing blonde hair and large, innocent eyes. _Just like the dolls._

Joker suddenly began to chuckle and he stopped walking. "It really is true," he laughed quietly. "'Ee can't judge people by appearances. A little tacker like 'ee has the stage names _Queen's Guard Dog_ and _Villainous Noble?_" He turned around and smiled mockingly at Ciel. "I reckon that must be hard, Smile."

Ciel met the man's mocking upturn of the lips with a hard glare. "I am Ciel, Earl Phantomhive," he replied coldly. "I do not tolerate servants speaking to me so familiarly."

There was silence for a second, and then Joker shrugged with a smile. "'Ee be a noble alright," he turned to face us fully and bowed. "Dinner is ready." _Dinner?_

The door of the dining room swung open, revealing room lit by a large, opulent chandelier, and a table set for dinner. The floor was covered by a lush, dark red carpet, which looked nearly black in the candlelight. On one side of the room, I noticed, was a raised platform, much like a stage. Across from us, on the other side of the room, was another door flanked by burgundy curtains on either side.

_This situation seems rather surreal, _I stood behind Ciel with Sebastian. Joker pulled out a chair for the young earl, and then went to stand by the door. I tried to picture what the Baron was like. In my mind, I imagined a tall, dark looking character, with dark eyes and an evil visage. The image changed again, as I had been reminded that it was important not to judge by appearances. The most innocent of faces could house the most terrifying of personas.

Sebastian's eyes went to the door on the other side of the room. "He's here." I turned my head as well. I could hear the steady sound of something squeaking, like metal cogs or joints. It stopped, and Joker pulled the door open.

"L-Lord Phantomhive, you came!" The man that appeared in the doorway was not what I expected at all. The Baron Kelvin was short, from what I could see, and stout-looking. He was seated in a wheelchair being pushed by two dead-eyed little children. His head was bald, and his face was wrapped almost entirely in white bandages, apart from one eye. "Ah, it's like a dream having you so close to me! I'm a bit embarrassed to have you see me like this…"

_We're here to kill you, so why do you sound so bashful?_ Maybe I was right about the _insane_ bit. "You're Lord Kelvin, correct?" If Ciel was as surprised as I was, he gave no inkling of it.

"That's right!" Kelvin perked up. "Ah, that sort of formality makes me feel a bit shy…" _That settles it, he's mad._ At the very least, he had to be a bit unhinged. The bandages also weren't helping, and I wondered what he'd done to end up looking like…

Well…looking like _that_.

The children rolled his wheelchair up to a place at the table. "I've prepared a feast for you!" He sounded so excited, had he been expecting us? Clearly he had, but why did he look so damned _happy_? Surely he knew why Ciel was here.

_And why do all these children look so…lifeless?_ I stared at the children who filed out from the door bearing plates and platters of food. They were all dressed like servants. _So, he's using them as slaves? _My eyes narrowed in barely repressed anger. _Did he brainwash them?_

Joker poured Ciel a glass of wine. "This is an 1875 vintage," Baron Kelvin smiled cheerily. "Wine from the year you were born. Too overblown, do you think?" _Why does he have that?_ _Obsessive sod,_ I glared at him hotly, and then blinked when Sebastian picked up the glass and took a sip.

He paused for a moment, and then smiled. "Evidently it isn't poisoned," he reported.

"You shouldn't have bothered," Ciel replied coolly. "I have no interest in eating a meal put on by rats. Now, those children…"

Several of them filed past, balancing a lobster platter between them. "I didn't see some of these children in the Yard's report," I murmured.

Sebastian nodded. "It seems we can assume there were more abductions than the Yard knew about." I frowned, and grimaced when the Baron grabbed a lobster from the platter. It was a childish move, with no restraint, and it looked gross when he chomped a bite out of it.

"I know!" He suddenly beamed at us. "A meal without entertainment will bore you, won't it, my lord? Joker!" He turned to the ginger-haired man behind him. "Joker, put on your show!" _Show?_ I stared as Joker balked and tried to talk the Baron out of it. "Just do it," Kelvin insisted, and his genial, bashful character dropped for a moment to reveal something cruel and base underneath.

Joker relented and hopped onto the stage and, as the lights suddenly shone on him, he suddenly became the circus master he'd been before. "Welcome, Lord Phantomhive! Tonight, we'll take 'ee to a world of thrilling enchantment!"

As he spoke, the curtain behind him lifted to reveal children in gaily painted masks and costumes. They were all standing there, not moving, lips straight. I couldn't see their eyes, but I was sure they all had the same dead-eyed look as the servants around. I heard feverish clapping: the Baron. _So he does use them as slaves. But why?_

_Why ask? Why not kill him now and get it over with?_ "First, our tightrope walker!" Joker gestured up and my eyes widened in horror. Above him was a piece of rope strung from one end of the stage to the other. Standing on it was a little girl, no more than nine, carrying a balancing stick and taking careful steps onto the rope. "No safety net tonight, me lovelies! It's a bona-fide-!"

The words weren't even out of his mouth before she lost her footing and plummeted, head first, to the ground with a sickening crunch. I choked back a strangled scream and closed my eyes. _What is this?! What horrible, nightmarish circus is this?_ The clapping grew louder, and I suddenly wanted to be sick.

A hand brushed against mine and I gripped it blindly. _Do something, Sebastian!_ I wanted to scream at him. _I should not have come. I should have stayed back at the mansion. I can't watch this._ A lion roared and I squeezed Sebastian's hand tighter. _Oh god,_ I tried to block out the horrific sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing. _It hurts…_

"And now, our knife-thrower!" My eyes flew open and my fingers were already going for knives at my belt. "What will become of this maiden on the cross?"

As though awoken from a trance, Ciel started from his chair just as the young boy threw the blade. "Sebastian-!" But before the words were even out of his mouth, the knife left my fingers and deflected the otherwise fatal blade. "Thalia?"

I was breathing hard, and my eyes were wide. _Make it stop. Just…make it stop._ My eyes widened when I felt Sebastian's fingers tighten slightly in mine, and I realised that I had been clinging to him the entire time. My grip loosened, and he walked over to the stage to pull the mask away from the face of the bound child.

"Elary Nixon," he held up the photographs and data pages we'd borrowed from the Yard. "She went missing in Cornwall. That settles it," he smiled. "Right as always, young master. Forcing children you abducted to perform," he turned to the baron. "Yes, I suppose that's one way to enjoy the circus."

The nauseous feeling in my stomach grew stronger. "My apologies!" _He's insane._ Did he not understand what he had done? Didn't he understand how disgusting and cruel his acts were? "You didn't like this either? Joker, clean this up at once!"

The silverware rattled loudly as Ciel rose abruptly from his seat. His eyes were hooded by the shadows cast by his hat, and his words were eerily calm and cold. "I'm done here," he said curtly. "I'm not in the habit of sharing a table with riff-raff lower than farm animals."

Candles flickered and flared. The wine in the glass spilled over, staining the white tablecloth an inky purple. Kelvin actually had the _nerve_ to look confused. "W-what?" He asked nervously. "What's wrong?"

The earl didn't grace him with an answer. "This will do for my report to the Queen," he spoke as he made his way over to the wheelchair-bound man. "I found the foul, vulgar, unsightly, perverted brute..."

Cold steel pressed against the Baron's forehead, and Ciel's finger rested lightly on the trigger.

"...and _I disposed of him._"


	29. Embers

**I'm gonna have to take a quick break from this story for a while because, as I have realised, I have been ignoring my OHSHC story in favour of Black Butler. I don't own Black Butler, I just own Thalia and her emotions.**

**Also, I get the feeling that a lot of you are huge angst people, but I'm glad a lot of you like this story!**

**Embers**

We moved almost at the same time in a blur of motion. The barrel of Ciel's gun was cocked and pointed directly against the Baron's temple, much in the same way the rapier in Joker's hand was pointed at his throat. The knife I had thrown earlier was in Sebastian's hand, and it was pressed to Joker's neck.

I had two knives in my hands. One was a mirror to Sebastian's and at Joker's neck, and the other was pressed to the back of the Baron's neck, right against the most sensitive part. One wrong move, and both would be dead before they could even speak.

Ciel's face was a mask of perfect calm, and his eyes were trained on the Baron. I watched Joker above his bandaged head. _Drop the sword._ I was perfectly willing to slit either of their throats if anything happened to Ciel.

My eyes glanced down at the Baron, and I saw the way his eyes shifted from Ciel to the sword at his neck. He gasped. "Joker, don't point that dangerous thing at the earl!"

_We have a gun and a knife pointed at your head,_ I arched a single eyebrow but I didn't say a word. "But-!" Sebastian pressed the knife closer to the ringmaster's throat and Joker choked on his complaints.

The gun in Ciel's hand pressed harder against the Baron Kelvin's head. "Where are the children you kidnapped?" Ciel barked sharply. For a moment, the Baron looked surprised by the question, and then he smiled a rather deranged smile.

"Oh, you want to meet them?" He beamed, and his irises seemed to have shrunk to pinpoints against the white sclera. "They're in the cellar! Would you like to see them? There's something I wanted to show you down there anyway!"

Ciel's eyes narrowed and flickered quickly to Sebastian and I. After a moment of consideration, he retracted the gun just a fraction. I lowered my knives and left Joker to Sebastian. "Take me to them," he ordered curtly. The baron swallowed and, by some unseen gesture, two of the children slipped past Ciel and began to wheel his chair in the direction of the door.

Silence reigned as the five of us made our way to the cellar, only broken by the steady, metallic screech of the metal gears grinding against each other. "But, I'm so glad you're here," Kelvin finally spoke. "I've been filled with regret ever since that day. I kept thinking, _why couldn't I be by your side then?_"

"_That day? By my side?_" Ciel gazed down at the man warily. "What are you on about?"

The Baron didn't answer directly. "No amount of regret can turn back time," he continued. "But then I realised something!" He stopped and I realised that we were standing in front of a large door that looked too grand to be the entrance of a cellar. The children that had been pushing his chair left his side and went to push open the large, wooden door. "If we can't go back, we'll just have to do it all again! Here, look!"

I do not know what sort of reaction Ciel first had to the scene before us, but I suspect it was much like mine. My body froze and I struggled not to choke on the terror clawing its way up my throat. I gazed at the scene of my nightmares, a scene I'd prayed I'd never have to see again.

The room was a perfect replica the sacrificial room, from the smooth marble pillars down to the stone altar in the centre. Candles flickered above my head and in tall stands between the rising ring of chairs. In my mind's eye, I saw the altar splattered in blood, and felt the phantom pain of fire on my left hip.

"I'm afraid it took me three years to get it ready." I barely heard Kelvin's words. In my mind, I could see hooded figures in white masks laughing at my pain, cheering whenever my blood was spilled. I could see my blood running over the stone slab, staining the ground. I could hear the crackling of flames, the quiet squelch of blood, the sound of bones breaking in the distance, and low voices speaking to me over the sound of my own screams.

_Get a grip on yourself! _I forced my breathing to slow down. Whoever this man was, I doubted he knew who I was. He was obsessed with Ciel, not me. More than anything, I had to get rid of this monster for Ciel's sake.

The boy was shaking. He looked like he wanted to run, but he was completely frozen and unable to do anything else except stare with wide, terrified eyes at the room. Forcing my fear down, I took a better look around the room.

It looked clean, in near pristine condition, and smelled faintly of incense and polish. The children were all in cages, and all of them were dead-eyed and unmoving in their places. "You know, earl Phantomhive," Kelvin smiled. "I still remember the first day I met you. Yes," he turned to face us and I had to physically restrain myself from taking a step back. "It all began on that day five years ago!"

The more he spoke, the more disgusted I became, and the more I realised just how deep his obsession with Ciel ran. He had been so attracted by the cold beauty of the Phantomhive family that he had done all he could to make himself just as beautiful, so that he too could be included in the dark loveliness of the underworld society.

"I've never been able to forget that pain," he told us. "I, who gave up everything to meet you, was the only one who couldn't. _Why is fate so bent on keeping us apart,_ I wondered."

For a moment, I debated the theory of him being a paedophile of some sort, and then I decided against it. He clearly hadn't done anything remotely sexual to the circus members, or the children, he just seemed completely fixated on Ciel and his family.

"And then, on that day, they were all gone." _The day he made the contract with Sebastian._ Ciel's eyes were cold and deadly. "It was you who killed them, wasn't it, my lord? How I envy them. A beautiful end, with the cold moon at their deathbeds! Please, make me one of them!" His expression turned to one of expectant ecstasy and he raised his arms high. "Look, I've even prepared everything just as it was then! This ritual chamber…and the lambs…and finally, my lord, _you!_"

A shot rang out, and blood spurted from the bullet wound in his torso. I heard Joker scream behind us. "Father!" There was a familiar sound of metal sliding from a sheath, and I whirled around, knife in hand.

Sebastian's hand was much faster than mine, and there was a low crunch and squelch as he severed Joker's arm cleanly from his body. The circus ringmaster could only let out a strangled gasp before he fell to the ground, and then the shock of the damage wore off and he began to scream in agony. His severed arm was clenched in Sebastian's hand, still gripping the knife he had pulled from his prosthetic. "Please stay out of my master's way."

It suddenly struck me how cold everyone was. Sebastian, I could understand, he was bathed in blood and darkness. Ciel, on the other hand…he was still a child. Yes, he had been through much, and yes he was within his rights to take his revenge on those responsible, but did he need to be so completely unfeeling?

The Baron raised himself up from the ground on his arms. Apparently, he wasn't yet dead. I watched with a mixture of disgust and pity as he crawled over to Ciel and wrapped his arms around the boy's leg. "It hurts, my lord," he groaned out. "It's agony! Please, if you're going to kill me, please give me the death they had!"

"_The death they had_?" Ciel repeated lowly. He suddenly kicked the man away and stepped on his head hard enough to grind his face into the stone floor. "Then you'd best prostrate yourself like the worm you are, and beg a demon!"

"Please, please don't kill him!" I had nearly forgotten about Joker. He might have been nearly half-mad with pain, but he was still coherent enough to speak. "Whatever he might be, whatever he's done, he's still our saviour!"

The first stringers, all of them had some sort of disability. They were all missing something, and had been abandoned because they weren't whole. The Baron had taken them in, and given them a home, he'd _fixed_ them so to speak. It only made sense that they would feel a sense of loyalty to him.

_But he's been using them to kidnap little children,_ I stared down at Joker. _You're killing the innocent to protect your own innocent. That doesn't make any sense._ It didn't, but I understood it perfectly. _What if I had been born like that? Would I have been able to survive?_

"England is a living hell for people born like us," he lowered his head. "We had nothing, no money for bread, and no arms to shield our friends with. But Father rescued us from the streets, gave us hands and feet for us to protect those we care about!"

While he spoke, I stepped around Ciel and crouched by the Baron's side. My eyes took in the unseeing look in his eyes and the stiffness of his limbs. "There's no point talking anymore," I interrupted Joker blatantly. "You can save your breath, he's already dead." At near point-blank range, the bullet had gone straight through him and pierced either his heart or one of his lungs.

Ciel glanced down briefly, and then he stepped away. "You aren't wrong," he commented, directing his words at Joker. "You fought to protect your world. What's wrong with that? In the end, justice is just an official line taken by those in power to serve their own ends. No one is looking out for another."

_That's a lie,_ I stared up at Ciel silently. _I'm looking out for you. I'll always be looking out for you until the day one of us dies._ Sebastian might have been his butler, but there was barely any love between them.

"If you're careless, you'll be robbed," the young earl went on. "There are only two kinds of people: those who steal, and those who are stolen from. And today," he cocked the gun in his hands. "I steal your futures. That is all this is."

The candles above us burned brightly, casting cold shadows in the room. A chill that shouldn't have been there curled up my spine and spread to my limbs. For a few seconds, Joker stared at us in shock, and then he fell back onto the ground and began to cackle loudly, and the sound echoed eerily in the chamber.

I watched him quietly. _Has the pain finally made him go mad?_ His body jerked as he continued to laugh. "Yeah, you're right," he cackled. "But guess what? You three will _all_ lose something precious tonight too!" He paused to catch his breath, but the grin never left his face. "The troupe is on its way to your mansion as we speak!"

_What?!_ Ciel gasped. "Elizabeth!" The little girl was staying there at the moment! If anything happened to her…

Joker puffed out another chuckle. "How do you think we captured all those kids without getting caught?" The few dregs of pity I'd had in my heart for him and the circus drained away. "All the witnesses disappear! We're pros at this. If anyone crosses our path for any reason on the job, we eliminate them!"

_Eliminate, huh?_ I thought back to the report. In every case, wherever the police had gotten involved, every officer had been found dead at the scene of the crime. Sometimes random people were found as well, those who had simply been passing through ad had spotted the circus.

"You're the target," Joker's grin widened. "I wonder how many will be killed while they search for you?"

Ciel raised his head slightly. "Killed?" He repeated softly.

"Yeah," Joker replied. "Even the servants!"

"_My_ servants?" Ciel asked, and the triumphant smile on Joker's face fell a bit. Sebastian chuckled quietly, and I couldn't help the small, darkly amused smile that appeared on my face. "What do you take them for?" Ciel eyed Joker with icy contempt. "Those are _Phantomhive_ servants."

It had taken me a while, but I soon came to realise that not one of the servants of the manor were useless. Yes they might bumble around and blow up/break things that shouldn't be, but all three of them were talented in their ways and not a single one of them was the sort that you could take down easily.

Bard was an excellent tactician with more combat skill than I gave him credit for. Mey-Rin was fantastic markswoman who could shoot objects perfectly, no matter how far away they were (which was why she wore glasses, she was hopelessly farsighted and being a sharpshooter was the way she chose to utilize her sight).

Finny was…well, Finny was Finny. There wasn't much to say about the kid.

"They are private soldiers that Sebastian and I personally selected." I twirled my knife expertly between my fingers while Ciel spoke. "They'll protect Phantomhive secrets and Phantomhive pride from anything. That's what makes a Phantomhive servant."

_This night has been full of so much horror,_ I let my eyes lower to the blood-splattered floor. _I wonder how much more I can take…_ I wanted to go back to the manor and pat Morgan and Pluto. I wanted to play with Finny, and tease Mey-Rin, and argue with Bard.

I wanted to forget that this night had ever happened.

Joker's body shook tremulously. "Private…soldiers…?" He stared up at Ciel. For a moment his eyes slid to me and the knife in my hand, and then the truth hit him hard.

"The Phantomhive family is a shadow that exists solely to dispose of her majesty's worries," Ciel raised his chin. "Once you enter our den, you can never return to the light."

_And I am in that den right now, aren't I?_ Well, it's not like my life was any brighter before. As long as I could still feel the sun on my face and grass under my feet, I would be fine. _We all have blood and deaths on our hands. Finny, Bard, Mey-Rin, Ciel, Sebastian…even me. _

_Don't we all?_ "They're pros," Joker repeated, almost frantically. "They won't be easy to-!"

"You are free to think what you like, of course," Sebastian cut him off. "But don't forget that _I _chose them," he waved my bloodied knife at Joker, the one he had used to cut off his arm, and then he held it out to me. I glanced at it distastefully and he chuckled. "Oh, excuse me," he wiped the blood off with the hem of his coat and I accepted the blade from him when it was clean.

Ciel scowled at us. "Must the two of you do this even _now?_"

_He started it. _I slipped the dagger into the belt under my cloak, and then went to kneel in front of Joker. There were tears rolling down his face and I felt a pang of something akin to sorrow for him and for the circus. They were all going to die, but they had done what they thought would protect the ones they cared about. Wasn't that human nature? How far would I have been willing to go for my mother?

I cupped his face with my hands and he raised his head to look up at me. "I'm sorry." For everything, and while this was a necessary evil, I could not erase the fact that I regretted the actions of the night. "Beast loves you. She told me that she's always loved you."

_At least when he dies,_ I removed my hand from his face and watched as his face convulsed and he sobbed silently into his arm. _At least he will know that._ "Thalia," Sebastian called for me and I glanced over my shoulder at him. He stared back at me and his eyes were half-narrowed.

_What? _I blinked back at him. _I am trying to comfort a dying man here. You can't choose _now_ to get jealous!_ "Stop crying," Ciel told him callously. "It's pathetic. Crying won't change anything. This world is never kind to anyone."

_You are young and steeped in darkness and death,_ I got to my feet and made my way back to Ciel's side. _Of course you can't see the light even when it's right in front of you. Or do you turn your head away from it and focus only on the shadows?_

Suddenly, I heard a familiar sound coming down the corridor we had taken. The sound of metal scraping faintly against metal, the sound of a wheelchair coming down the corridor we'd come through. I turned my head in the direction of the door. "Sorry I'm late," a voice called and an unexpected presence appeared in the doorway. "I brought more!"

The doctor. The kindly, wheelchair-bound doctor who had taken care of Ciel when he'd relapsed and suffered his asthmatic fit._ Is no one at that circus innocent?_

He blinked and paused when he spotted us. "Hmm? Black, Smile, Red, what are you doing here?"

"Stay away Doc!" Joker rasped a warning. "They're…the Queen's Guard Dog! Run, please!"

For whatever reason, the doctor didn't run. He didn't even look nervous or afraid. Instead, he just looked curious. _Is everyone here insane? I bet you aren't even lame! _

"Hmm?" He stroked his chin thoughtfully and eyed us from his place at the top of the sunken amphitheatre. "So you're the ones. Why would I run?" He suddenly leaned forward and got to his feet in one, smooth movement."You're the kidnappers, and I only did what the Baron told me to. I have no reason to run."

_I knew it._ "Doc…your legs aren't…lame?" Joker stared up at the man as he came closer.

"My legs?" The doctor laughed. "Oh yes, they're perfectly sound," he patted his knee. "I've just been sitting in that wheelchair. Kids like you trust me more easily that way. Ah!" His eyes suddenly landed on the Baron's body and he rushed past us to kneel by his side. "Baron Kelvin!"

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at the back of his head. "He's already dead." _What is your part in this?_

There was no sadness in the doctor's tone, only disappointment. "That's just cruel," he sighed. "I'd finally found a patron who understood my ideals."

The three of us stared at him curiously. "Ideals?" Sebastian repeated.

"Right!" He got to his feet and whirled around to face us. "My ideals! I'd been working for years to make the perfect prosthetic!" His face no longer held the kindly expression it had before. Now he looked mildly unhinged. _The circus is full of loons._ "And after all that research, I finally arrived at the perfect material! Lighter and stronger than wood, and with the unique, sterile beauty of ceramic! I created what no one before me had been able to do!"

With every word, I felt the knot in my chest get tighter. My eyes followed the madman as he walked over to where Joker lay and picked up his prosthetic hand from where it had fallen.

He stroked it like it was a much-loved pet, or something valuable and rare. "The only problem with my material was that it was a touch difficult to gather."

"Yes," Sebastian seemed to be thinking. "Your prosthetics did have a lovely texture. Almost like bone china."

_Bone china?_ My eyes widened in horror as the idea occurred to me. _No… _"You can appreciate this beauty as well, Black?" The doctor beamed at him excitedly. "Ah, but you're a bit off the mark. I wish you wouldn't rate my work the same as _cattle_ bone china."

_Oh my god…_ I took a step backwards. I could feel my hands beginning to shake. "I do remember you saying that you used _special _materials." _Oh god…_

"That's right!" I didn't understand how neither of them had guessed yet. "Special materials that I can only get _here_!" He made his way over to one of the cages, and the penny finally dropped for Ciel. "It saves us the trouble of having to dump them somewhere," he grinned widely at us as he leaned on one of the metal cages. "Fantastic recycling, wouldn't you say?"

_You're using the bones of children…to make prosthetic limbs…_ I covered my mouth with my hands and tried not to throw up onto the ground. Behind us, Joker began to scream and pound his prosthetic arm against the ground as though he was trying to break it off.

The doctor frowned, and I wandered if he was insane after all. "See?" He pouted. "Another patient rejecting it. And you were so happy to have this right hand too," he dangled the skeleton hand from his fingertips. _A skeleton hand crafted from bones_. The irony was not lost on me.

Joker sobbed. "If I'd known, I'd never have…"

"You wouldn't have wanted it?" The doctor made a look of mock-surprise. "Are you sure?"

The pain, the horror and revelations of the night must have been too much for Joker. He fell back down, and I couldn't tell whether or not he was still alive. _Die,_ I stared at him. _Die. Right now, that's the best thing you could do._ There was nothing left for him in the world, nothing at all.

The doctor sighed disappointedly. "Well this is the end of my job here," he said. "Oh, I say Lord Phantomhive," he suddenly raised his head and smiled at Ciel. "Would you hire me?"

_I will kill you._

"In fact, introduce me to the Queen!"

_I will kill you._

"She _is_ getting on in years, isn't she?" He grinned at us conspiratorially. "She could use some maintenance, surely? I've got a record of successful experiments, and I do excellent work!"

"Shut your mouth, you scum," Ciel snarled. The man frowned and leaned back in frustration.

"Aw, are you another one of those pigheaded types who care more about process than the results?" _If you mean the sort of person that values human life, especially the life of a child, over something as stupid and trivial as making nice-looking false limbs,_ my fingers were already going for the knives in my belt. _Then yes._ "Everyone sings my praises until they know." _For good reason._

He reached into a cage and pulled out one of the children, a little girl no older than eight, with dark blonde hair done up in two plaits. She was totally unresponsive as he dragged her over the ground and to the altar.

"The Baron was different," the doctor continued talking. "He was highly motivated to seek beauty, and he spared no expense covering my materials and the cost of production! He was a top-class patron!" Bile built up in my mouth as he pulled the girl closer to the altar. _He can't…!_ "Making a top-class product takes top-class materials. It's just common sense, don't you think?"

_Do something!_ But my hands felt like cement. This felt like a bad dream, and I couldn't move for the terror building up inside me. I had seen many awful things in my life, but this was different…this was madness of a different sort.

He set her flat on her back on the marble surface, and began to rifle through a drawer on the other side. "A cow's bones are fine to use, but a human's aren't?" He grabbed something, a large, ceremonial knife. "Who decided _that_?" He raised his arm and brought it down.

In that split second, I suddenly found myself able to move. Knives materialised in both hands and I threw them, one after the other. One knocked the knife out of the doctor's hand, an inch away from the little girl's chest. The second pierced right through the tendons of his hand and lodged there.

He reared back, screaming in pain, and his scream nearly drowned out Ciel's. "_Ciel!_" In my own terror, I had forgotten about him and his own fear. His hand was covering his mouth, and the mix of bile, phlegm and saliva that he had thrown up seeped through his gloved fingers. "Ciel!" I ran to his side.

"Young master," Sebastian appeared on his other side. "What is there to fear? You are outside the cage now, my lord," he took Ciel's hand in his, and untied the eye-patch hiding his sign of the contract from view. "Now, young master…" I raised my head and saw that his eyes were glowing red. "…_call my name_."

Ciel's eyes shut, but he lifted his head up. "_Se…bast…_" he rasped out the word, and his voice got stronger with every repetition. "Sebastian! Sebastian! _Sebastian!_" His eyes shot open, and I got my first look at his right eye since I'd started working for him. "_Kill them!_"

"_Yes, my lord._" The doctor had no time to even think, seeing as he was partially crucified and so blinded by pain. Sebastian's arm went right through his chest, breaking through his ribs and then his spine.

Blood sprayed onto the ground, and then he collapsed. Sebastian, with Ciel in his arms, then went over to the Baron. I frowned. "He's already dead," I told him.

The demon smiled at me, eyes still red and glowing. "Better safe than sorry," he raised his foot and brought it down on his cranium. I shut my eyes a second before his foot crushed through his skull. "You can open your eyes now, Thalia. It's over."

_Is it? _My eyelids flickered open slowly, and I took in the bloodied scene before me. _I think it's over now, _I exhaled softly, and then I walked over to the altar where the little girl lay. "At least the children are safe," I ran a hand over her cheek and scooped her body into my arms. _I wonder if this is what someone would look like if their soul was gone,_ I stared into her eyes. _Alive, yet not._

Ciel shifted in Sebastian's arms, and I turned around to face him. "Burn it," he muttered.

Sebastian blinked and looked down at him. "By _it_," he asked. "Do you mean this mansion?" Ciel nodded and I stared at his back in shock. "Young master, I gathered from the Queen's letter that our mission was to find the kidnappers and rescue the children."

"We've done that," my eyes went to the dead Baron and the doctor. "The kidnappers are already-!"

His grip on Sebastian's shoulder tightened. "_Shut up, both of you!_" I froze and stared at him. "Don't leave anything behind! Burn it all to ash! Have you forgotten your job, Sebastian? _That's an order!_"

"Ciel, please!" I tried to reason, to beg. "Don't do this-!"

"_Be quiet!_" He turned to me, and his eyes had the wild, feral look of an animal that had been backed into a corner and was willing to attack anything that came at it, even a friend. "If you cannot understand and obey your master, then what kind of servant are you!? _Get out!_" He screamed at me, and I took a step back.

_Ciel…_ Sebastian stared at me, but he didn't say a word. Suddenly, everything fell into place for me. I could love Ciel with everything I had, but love wasn't always enough to fix everything wrong with a person. We were too different, and I was a fool to think I could always be with him. What were promises anyway? What stopped a person from going back on everything they'd ever said?

_Love, dignity, conscience…_

_Fear. _And, as Sebastian raised his hand to the candles burning, I turned and ran into the corridor, just as the room behind me became engulfed in fire. I heard the sound of a thousand flames roaring, of wood cracking, breaking and chaos. I turned a corner sharply and my neck jerked backwards, almost hard enough to break the bone. My braid had gotten caught on the fingers of one of the bone-china dolls.

_Let go! _I yanked harder, but it was almost as though the doll was refusing to release my hair. Large, painted-blue china eyes stared into mine with no emotion. I could feel the searing heat of the flames on my skin. I closed my eyes and screamed.

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oOo

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**No One's POV**

Sebastian watched his mate run. He wasn't worried, he was certain he'd be able to catch up with her no matter how fast she ran. She couldn't run away from him, he wouldn't let her.

However, he glanced down at the smaller male he was carrying. He couldn't exactly blame her. Humans were such fickle creatures, forever throwing their consciences and cares to the wind and saying things that they didn't mean to say.

He made his way out of the burning room and froze as the sound of someone screaming reached his ears. _Thalia!_ The sound stopped almost abruptly, and he quickened his steps until he reached the front room, and there he froze. Before that day, he had never imagined that demons could feel fear or anything akin to that, but he was wrong.

Red and orange flames danced gaily before him, greedily eating up the remains of a long white braid tipped with red, and the fabric of dark cloak.

**Please read and review my darlings! *runs away screaming before any of you can attack me***


	30. Fire in the Darkness

**Okay, so I know I said I would be gone for a while, but two things made me come back. **

**One, a strange mix of boredom and excitement. I have no self-control, honestly. This story is heating up! I mean, did you see that cliffhanger? I'm so sorry about that cliffhanger, please don't hate me.**

**Two, I spent the whole of yesterday bingeing on on OHSHC and managed to churn out about seven chapters before I got tired, so the week or so I said I would spend writing has been completed in the space of four hours.**

**That said, I do not own Kuroshitsuji, just Thalia.**

**Fire in the Darkness**

Morning came, and the sun rose over England's town and countryside, dispelling the cold fog of the night. A policeman, a member of the Yard, made his way down the stairs of the Yard's office building. It was a particularly glorious day, he decided. The sun shone brightly in the sky, warming up the air and ushering in the beginning of spring.

He smiled to himself and pushed the door of the building open, preparing to leave for his patrol, and then he nearly tripped over something placed right outside the door. Steadying himself quickly, the man looked down expecting to see something like a rock placed by a mischievous child.

What he saw, however, made him freeze. His blood ran cold and, for a moment, he didn't know what to think. There was a little girl on the steps. She looked dirty, but also as though someone had tried to clean her up as best as they could. She was wrapped up in the slightly scorched remains of an old coat. If not for her eyes, she would look like any other child.

_Her eyes though_, he couldn't stop staring. She looked as though someone had drained the life out of her and left only darkness. She looked dead, lifeless, but her chest still rose and fell with every breath.

There was something tucked into the coat, he noticed. _A note?_ Carefully, he plucked it from the folds of the cloth and straightened it out. The handwriting was messy and smudged, but he could still make out the words.

_This is one of the children who went missing. She's alive, but I don't know if she'll ever recover and I don't know if she'll ever be the same. Still, I wanted her to be with her family. Don't try looking for the other children though. They can't come back at all._

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oOo

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_**Eight Years Ago **_

"_Mr. Cat!" A little girl, no older than twelve skipped down the worn cobblestones of the secluded street corner. Though her surroundings were cold, shadowy and strange, she seemed to glow with her own bit of light and warmth as she ran over the ground._

_A little way away, sitting perched on a low wall, a black cat with large, knowing gold eyes uncurled itself from its resting position and eyed her quietly as she came closer. If cats could smirk, then this one was. It watched as the little girl jumped from cobblestone to cobblestone with small, bare feet, hopping over all the cracks until she was standing directly in front of it._

_Thalia was her name. You couldn't miss her. With her large, garnet-red eyes and choppy scarlet hair, she was impossible to lose. The drab white-grey dress that she wore only served to draw more attention to the fiery mass. "Mr. Cat, you came again!" She beamed up at the feline and held out her arms for the expected._

_She'd been nine first time she had met the cat and tried to pet it, it had eyed her hand disdainfully and walked away without even a look back. It took about a week of gentle coaxing before it would even let her pet its fur, and another two weeks before it finally let her pick it up and cradle it to her chest._

_As always, the cat got to its feet, preened for a moment, and then leapt off the wall. She caught the warm, furry body deftly. A door opened in the building behind her and a woman with dark hair and a low-cut dress peered out. "Thalia!" She called out. "Remember to be careful on the streets, alright?"_

"_Alright Miss!" Thalia waved to her mother's friend with one hand. "Tell mama I'll be back later!" She glanced up at the room that was hers and mother's, and slowly turned to walk away, the cat held against her chest. She knew the drill: leave in the morning, be back by eight, and hide in the attic until the last 'visitor' left. _

_Most of the people she ignored her. Those that didn't, simply nodded at the tiny girl traipsing through the backstreets. Although, she noted, she had been getting far more appreciative looks recently. She might have been young and innocent, but she wasn't stupid. She'd seen the same looks on the faces of the men that came into the brothel. _

_Ah well, she thought to herself as she sidestepped an old tramp sitting at a corner. At least she could run fast, if needed. Still, that wasn't what was bothering her. "You know, Mr. Cat," she said aloud. "I think mama's getting sick. She doesn't play with me as much anymore, and she sleeps a lot." _

_Ms. Blue, one of her mother's friends (so-called because she always wore blue no matter what), had mentioned that her mama might have caught something from one of the visitors. The doctor had been called, but he had been little help. He had spouted off some long drizzle, bled her mama, packed up his bag and disappeared with a sizeable stack of gold coins._

_The cat mewed quietly and she hugged it tighter. "I really hope mama gets better," she whispered into a pink ear. A nursery rhyme she had read last night came to her. "Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home. Your house is on fire, your children are gone…"_

* * *

oOo

* * *

_I'm glad it's warmer today, _I sighed as I plucked at the scarf around my neck thoughtfully. The sun was bright, but the air still held a brisk chill that necessitated a bit of warm clothing. Spring was close, but not close enough. _It'll be really cold by tonight though…_

People continued to move past me when I paused in the middle of the street. _That's right,_ I stared at the cobblestones under my feet. _I'm back on the streets, aren't I?_ I hadn't had to think about where to get my next meal, or where I was going to sleep for months, and now I had to go back to thinking like a rat.

_I could always go back…_

At the thought, a powerful shudder went through me and I felt something bitter rise up in the back of my throat. A few people shot me strange looks and I quickly hurried on. I suppose I had to look rather strange: singed clothes, sooty face, and choppy hair. I probably looked a mess.

_I'm not going back._

The tips of my hair tickled the back of my neck, and I reached up to scratch at the itch. I'd had to chop off my braid when the fire got too close, and so it now fell to my chin instead of my waist. I must say, I didn't really mind the change all that much. The tips had bled through to reform the red highlights I'd always had. At some point though, I was going to have to trim it so it didn't look like someone had taken a knife to it (which was actually what I'd done).

I leaned against the wall of a building and pulled my head back to study the shifting clouds. _So I'm on my own again, am I?_ Images of the home I'd had before flashed through my mind, of the servants, of Ciel, of Pluto and Morgan, and then a red-eyed demon with a smirk that did strange things to my insides.

_Stop it!_ I shook my head to get rid of the images. _He killed all of those children! All of them!_ Ciel was broken, almost in the same way I was, but we'd been fixed differently. He'd put himself together using hate as the tool, and revenge as the means. Now that I thought about it, I really could not remember how I'd put myself back together either. _I didn't have anyone after that._

_Ah well_, I shifted and felt something bump against my leg under my skirt. _At least I'm not utterly bereft_. A while ago, I had sewn a small pouch of coins to the inner lining of my skirt. It was supposed to be a sort of failsafe for shopping trips, so that I was sure I always had a few extra gold coins in worst-case scenarios.

I shook my leg again, and felt the pouch knock against my thigh. It felt sufficiently full, enough to get me by for a week or so. After that, I would just have to think of a way to make money. Could I go back to picking pockets and doing circus tricks?

The mere mention of a circus made me feel sick and I closed my eyes. A vision of a young girl plummeting to her death assaulted me and my eyes snapped open again. _Lying around and feeling sorry for yourself will not help you,_ I scolded myself harshly. _First of all,_ I straightened and glanced around the streets. _I need food._

I suppose the establishment I picked was seedy, at best, but I really couldn't walk into any self-respecting place looking the way I did. The exterior was dilapidated, and the interior smelled like alcohol and damp. Fortunately for me, the early hour meant that the pub was mostly empty, save for a few _early risers_ and some who looked like they'd never left and had conked out at their tables.

The bartender was a short but stout man, with a slightly balding head and a near-permanent scowl on his face. I made my way over to the front, ignoring the eyes on me, and settled myself on one of the stools. "'Morning," I grinned a jaunty grin, remembering my days before I'd become a part of the Phantomhives. "Got anything to eat?"

There was a quiet thud as the bartender appraised me, and then he grinned and leaned on the table. "Whatcha offerin'?"

_Do all men do this, or just the ones I come across?_ I resisted the urge to lean further away from him and slipped my fingers into my skirt. His eyes darted down and I nearly grimaced at the way he licked his lips. "Sorry mate, but I'm just offering gold for now," I pulled out two coins and pressed them into his hands. "And make it quick. I'm hungry and I don't plan to wait forever."

Muttering under his breath, he disappeared through a door into a back room. A few minutes later, he returned with a plate of bread and scrambled eggs. _Huh, the food's actually hot._ I took an experimental bite of the eggs and, after finding them to be relatively alright, I began tearing the bread slice into pieces to eat.

_These eggs taste like crap compared to Sebastian's cooking though._

My fingers paused and I scowled at my plate. I did not need to be thinking about Sebastian, or Ciel, or the Phantomhive family. Ciel had told me to leave, and so I had. I had cut my ties with them, and I didn't need any reminders.

I licked my fingers clean, deliberately disregarding every _ladylike _thing Sebastian had ever told me, and marched out of the pub. _So what shall I do once this money runs dry?_ I stared out onto the streets unseeingly. Well, there was usually only one easy option for girls like me.

* * *

oOo

* * *

"_Mother?" The body on the bed didn't move. Thalia gripped her hand harder, feeling how cool it had become in just a few seconds. "Mother? Mama! Mama wake up! Mama, please!" Her voice rose in a frightened scream as she continued to shake the body on the bed. "Mama! Mama don't leave me!" _

_Her fingers clung uselessly to the dead woman's fingers, and then to the bed-sheets as more women dragged her away. She fought them, screaming and kicking and pleading. One of them knelt down and forced her around so she wouldn't see the moment the doctor drew the brown sheet over her mother's face. "Oh, Thalia…"_

_A week later, just a day after the funeral, Thalia stood in the office (and she used this term loosely) of the owner of the establishment. The room was dim and smelled strongly of alcohol, must and old food. The man in front of her was a fat mass, and Thalia briefly wondered where he got the money to stuff himself so much while everyone else survived on scraps. _

_He was holding a bottle of what smelled like whisky in one hand, from which he took periodic gulps. He took one now, belched loudly, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Thalia stared back at him and he glowered down at her. She was still wearing her funeral dress of dark grey, as she had no black clothes of her own. _

_Finally, he snorted and took another swig. "You're a bit small, aren't you?" He eyed her up and down critically. "How old are you anyway?"_

"_I just turned thirteen," she replied hollowly. Yesterday, actually. She'd been looking forward to celebrating with her mother. Birthdays were special. Once a year, her mother would ignore all her customers and take her out for the day. They would stroll through London, and Thalia could pretend, for just a few hours, that her mother wasn't a prostitute who sold her body to selfish men for a few meagre coins. That life wasn't bleak and dark, with only a few sunspots when she could actually see the sky. _

_And now that would never happen. She felt the burn of tears and she forced them down. She hated the man in front of her with her very core, and she'd be damned if she'd let him see any weakness from her._

_He snorted and eyed the girl in front of him. Something about her stare unnerved him. He had never seen eyes like hers before, cold, hard, like they'd been carved out of rubies and stained with blood. She could pull in money, he considered her. She was small, but pretty, and nicely formed for such a little girl. Besides, he smirked. There were customers who liked their women to be rather young._

_She just needed a little bit of…training first…_

_Thalia heard the door click shut behind her, and she was already moving before she heard the thud of a lock falling into place. The man was already moving out from behind his desk, his expression a mask of kindness, but she could see the depravity in his eyes. "You don't have any family, do you?"_

_How could she get out of here? _

"_It's dangerous on the streets for such a little girl…"_

_The door was locked._

"_Why don't you stay here?"_

_She couldn't overpower him._

"_You will have to earn your keep though…"_

_The window? She eyed the half open window behind him. How far up were they?_

"_All you have to do," he was almost to her now, close enough to feel the silkiness of her dark red hair. "Is learn to spread those pretty little legs of yours…"_

_Her leg came up and slammed into his groin hard enough to elicit a scream of agony. Thalia rolled out of the way when he fell, and sprinted for the window. It was stuck, she realised, and she heard the sound of the door being unlocked, and multiple voices behind it._

"_You bitch!" So he still had enough energy left to insult her? Her fingers scrabbled at the window fruitlessly, before she finally managed to squeeze herself through the gap. For a moment, she balanced on the thin ledge and stared down at the empty backstreet._

_She jerked and almost lost her footing when the door slammed open. "Where is she?!"_

"_There! She's outside the window!" Thalia glanced back at them, and then down. She couldn't think for too long. If she stayed on the ledge to think, one of them would reach out and grab her. They could even go down and wait for her. So she made her choice._

_Thalia Hawthorne closed her eyes, braced her body, and jumped._

* * *

oOo

* * *

Prostitution could be easy money, but that depended on whom you were working under. Unfortunately, my mother had ended up working in one of the more sordid and depraved brothels. Even so, I had seen what that sort of thing could do to a person, and I was not about to let strange men point and play with me just for fun. My pride wouldn't allow it.

_I suppose I have a few days before I start thinking seriously about that anyway,_ I folded my arms across my chest tried to think about what I wanted to do now that I was going to be alone for the next few days. _Unless Sebastian is looking for me._

The thought made me freeze. Would he? Could he even find me? I mean, he might be a demon, but that didn't give him supernatural finding abilities did it? _He might use Pluto._ Ah, well that made more sense.

I brushed my hair out of my eyes, simultaneously pushing the notion away. _Since I seem to be taking lots of trips down memory lane,_ I frowned at the sky as the thought occurred to me. _Why don't we take a literal one this time?_

How far was it to the town? The Baron's house had taken a good hour to reach, and that was when Sebastian carried us. It would probably be a day's travel, give or take the odd hour. _But what do you have to lose anyway?_

_Nothing_, I closed my eyes. I now had absolutely nothing to lose.

* * *

oOo

* * *

_**Seven Years Earlier**_

_Thalia waited until the sounds of angry yelling died away to loud murmurs, before she allowed herself to relax against the slightly damp wall of the alley. When she was sure she was alone, she finally pulled out the soft loaf of bread from her coat and chomped down on one end with the ferocity of a wild animal._

_She hadn't eaten in hours, and her stomach cramped painfully even as she continued to gobble down bite after ravenous bite. It was a miracle that no one had seen her and thrown her into the workhouse yet. She was fast, and quick on her feet. She wondered, if not for the times she had spent playing around in the streets, if she'd be able to survive the past few months at all._

_Finally, her stomach ceased its griping and she picked at the crumbs littering her skirt, not wanting a single, precious morsel to go to waste. Suddenly, a shadow fell over her and she froze and prepared to escape. "My, my," a female voice spoke. "What a pretty little angel."_

_The woman was pretty, with lilac eyes and a kind smile. Thalia couldn't see her hair, as it was covered by a bonnet, but it was short and didn't look very dark. Awed, but still very wary, she opted to stay put and watch the woman out of narrowed red eyes._

_The lady smiled and took in the child's appearance. Eyes like jewels, and hair like blood, and a soul that was barely stitched together. Yes, this one would do marvellously. She smiled down at her and held out a pretty, gloved hand. "Would you like to come home with me, angel?" She asked. "I have food, and water, and a nice place for you to sleep."_

_Thalia's eyes narrowed even more and she considered the woman's offer, but she couldn't stop the way her body reacted to the thought of food. Food, and a place to sleep at night. No more lying in boxes and searching for newspapers to act as covers._

"_Will you come with me, Thalia?" The lady smiled when the little girl reached forward and took her outstretched hand. "Good girl."_

* * *

oOo

* * *

The rides I had to hitch to get to the town took quite a bit out of my earnings. Much more than I would have liked, but I didn't bother to argue about the price too much. It was dark by the time we arrived, and it had gotten much colder. I was thankful for my scarf, but it wasn't much help against the chill.

Still, I couldn't help feeling a quick flutter of happiness. The cobbled streets were worn and wonderfully familiar, and reminded me of hours spent running through dirty alleyways and turning cartwheels for coins. I tugged my scarf tighter around my neck and stuck to the walls and shadows.

The streetlights were on now. Somewhere in the distance, a dog howled quietly. Dark, shady people in torn clothes like mine moved in the shadows, while the more affluently dressed members of society kept to the lantern-lit streets and stores. I spotted a small, grimy-faced child selling matches near the wall of a bakery store.

_She could have been one of them. _Pausing there, I walked into the bakery and purchased a loaf of freshly bread, ignoring the dubious and wary glare of the owner. Her expression quickly disappeared, however, when I handed her a coin.

When I came out, I handed the little girl half of the loaf and the change I had gotten for the bread. "It's late," I told her. She stared at the bread like it would disappear at any moment, but then a second later both the bread and the money were out of my hands and she was more than halfway down the street like a hare.

_Whoo, _I watched her go with a tiny smile. _She has the makings of a pickpocket, but I would not recommend it to anyone._ Pleased with the result of my small act of charity, I continued my journey.

The church was empty when I reached it, and I stared at it curiously from the other side of the rusted iron gate. The walls looked crumbly and dark, and the grounds seemed as though they hadn't been taken care of in a while. The grass had grown long, and patches of weeds grew in thick clumps.

Beyond the church were the graves. I hopped over the gate easily, and landed soundlessly on the other side. The weeds caught my skirt, but I ignored them and kept walking. Just behind the church lay the final resting places of several people, including my mother. Normally, she would have gotten a peasant burial (no gravestone or service), but I had insisted and had used some of her earnings to pay for the tiny funeral.

_It's dark,_ I frowned and paused. Where was her grave? I hadn't been to see her in years. _If I remember correctly, it's around…huh?_

There was someone else there. I cocked my head to the side and watched the dark shadow curiously. A feeling of fear went through, but it was fleeting. I had already seen quite a bit already, too much to feel terror at something so ambiguous.

The shape moved again, and I realised that he was human. The man was holding a shovel and thrusting into the earth of one of the graves. _Gravedigger. _This was a poor man's graveyard, so he was probably here to dig up cadavers for some medical practitioner.

I frowned and took a step closer, and my eyes narrowed when I recognised the grave he was digging. "What are you doing here?" I snarled. "Why are you digging up my mother's grave?"

He froze and spun to face me. Thinking about it now, I suppose my burned, torn dress, wild hair, red eyes and general appearance may have come off as a _bit_ frightening, but there was no need for him to stumble backwards and _scream._ "_Ghost!_"

_What?_ I watched him scramble backwards with mild confusion, and then his hands went for something in his jacket. _Gun._ I moved faster than he did, and gave him a series of sharp jabs in specific points on his body, temporarily rendering his arms partially immobile.

He gasped and tripped over some weeds, and I heard a quiet _snap_ of bone fracturing. Another scream tore through the night and I watched as he dragged himself away, babbling incoherently, until he disappeared into the darkness.

"That was rather surprising," I murmured to myself, and then I turned to the gravestone. Ivy and moss had grown over it, and I knelt to wipe it away.

_Here lies Veronica Hawthorne. Beloved mother. May her soul rest in peace._

_May it indeed. _I kissed my fingers and pressed it to the stone. _Hello mama, I'm back. _I don't know how long I stayed by my mother's gravestone, just sitting in the grass with my back against the stone slab. At some point, I'm pretty sure I nearly froze to death.

However, I do know that when I opened my eyes, the sky was slowly lightening. _Oh, did I fall asleep?_ I got to my feet and pressed another kiss to my mother's gravestone.

It was early, just barely morning. I stole a sheet from a washing line, and wrapped it around my shoulders. My hair was my most distinguishing feature, and so I had to hide it. If for any reason, anyone was going to notice me, it would be because of my hair.

Visiting my mother's grave wasn't my main reason for coming back, although it was also rather important, I had another reason. When I'd run away, I had left everything behind. Every single thing that had belonged to my mother and I had been left in that place, and I had never once thought to go back for them.

I was much bigger now, however, and much stronger than I was then. Certainly I could return to that place, couldn't I? _But not during the day_, I stared up at the morning sun and chewed pensively on the bun I'd purchased from a street vendor as my breakfast. _I'll go in the evening._ In the meantime, I entertained myself with thoughts of stabbing the owner full of knives.

That day was spent re-exploring London's back alleys. Places I had once traversed easily, they were still familiar to me. In a way, it felt like I had never left at all. Gossip had always been rife in these places, and all one had to do to pick up information was listen to the right conversation.

For example, I learned that the man I'd met in the grave last night had broken his left ankle and was raving about a beautiful but terrifying white-haired ghost he'd met in the church grave who could immobilise people with a single look. I just pulled the fabric further over my head with a smirk and took another bite of my sandwich.

Evening came faster than I thought it would. I watched the steady darkening of the sky from my perch on the roof of a building. The higher the better, I always say. I like being way above the ground, which is weird because I am terrified of heights. I think I'm more terrified of falling and going _splat _than I am of the actual distance.

_It's now or never, I suppose_, I sighed and got to my feet while stretching upwards. The evening breeze felt quite nice on my skin, and I regretted that I couldn't stay a little longer to enjoy it more.

The brothel wasn't too far away from the church. After a few more minutes of walking, I had left the lit streets and was now walking along the dim and shadowy streets of the slums. I could sense the side glances people were throwing at me, but I didn't bother make eye-contact. I didn't have time to engage some drunk Neanderthal in a fight.

The building where my mother and I had lived had fallen into disrepair since the last time I had been there. There were women standing outside it and looking rather bored. They were dressed in low-cut, brightly coloured dresses and wore a lot of make-up. A few threw me curious glances, but didn't chase me when I walked inside. I suppose they pegged me as a jealous girlfriend come to search for her man.

It was empty. The inside was worse than the outside. The air smelled like cheap whisky and tobacco smoke, as well as other unsavoury human odours. There was a woman standing by one of the tables an smoking a cigarette and wearing a blue and black dress. She puffed out a breath of smoke on a sigh, and I recognised her as Ms. Blue, one of my mother's old friends. She had a bit more wrinkles, but apart from that she looked exactly the same.

A feeling of warm nostalgia overcame me, and I took a step forward. "Ms. Blue?" I came a bit closer.

She jumped and turned to glare at me out of hard eyes. "How do you know that name?" She snapped, blowing a ring of smoke at me. "If ya lookin' f' ya man, then I ain't the one to ask." With that, she inhaled another mouthful of smoke and started to walk deeper away.

I started forward. "No!" I said. She gave me an odd look. "I mean, no I'm not looking for my man, or anything. I'm looking for the things that belonged to someone called Veronica Hawthorne."

Her eyes widened and she breathed out another plume of silvery smoke. "Ronnie?" She chuckled and tapped a few ashes from the end of her cigarette. They drifted to the ground. "It's been ages since I heard that name. Whaddya want her things for?"

_She doesn't recognise me? _I lifted my hand and ran a hand though my shorn locks, and I took another step closer so that she could see my face clearer in the dim lighting. "I'm her daughter. Don't you remember me, Ms. Blue?"

If her eyes were wide before, now she looked like she had just seen a ghost. "Thalia…?" The cigarette slipped from between her fingers, but she barely seemed to notice. She peered at me, touching my face gently with shaky fingers. "Little Thalia," she smiled softly. "No one ever had eyes like yours. I always wondered what happened to you after Ronnie died. You just disappeared. Can't say I blame ya." Maddie touched my hair and frowned. "What happened to your hair?"

"Uh…bleach?" It was the first thing I could think of, but she believed me.

She sighed and pulled away. "Pity," she murmured. "You had the prettiest hair I'd ever seen. I always used to tell Ronnie that your papa must have been a real looker," she chuckled silently and I suddenly realised that I had never once asked my mother about my father. It had never occurred to me that it might be important at all.

_I'd been too young to care about it. My mama was all I needed to be happy, and then she died and I had no one else and nowhere safe._

"So, ya want ya mama's things?" Blue's voice tugged me out of my thoughts. I nodded and followed her to a room that used to be an old bedroom, but had been converted into a sort of storage room. "As ya can see, business has been slow lately," she made conversation while she shifted different items out of the way. "The new owner just drinks most of the money away. Most of us are plannin' to leave soon and find something else to do with our lives."

She sorted through the boxes there, until she found one. It was plain, apart from the initials V.H. scribbled on the side in black ink. It was rather heavy, but not so much that I couldn't manage it. "Thanks Ms. Blue," I thanked her with a smile."I hope everything works out for you."

I found an inn a little way away. It was dirty, but cheap. It had to be, since I wasn't planning on staying there long, just as long as it would take to go through the contents of the box.

The man in the front desk leered at me and tried to call over a few men to help me with my things and take me to my room, citing chivalry as a reason. Fortunately, when I tossed a dagger with enough precision to pin the hat on his head to the wall behind him, they quickly backed down and I made my way up the room unassisted.

_At this rate, I'll be out of money in less than a week._

The chamber was small and a bit damp, but that wasn't important. I carefully pulled the top of the cardboard box apart and opened the box. It was filled with books, books that I remembered. Before my mother had been a prostitute, she had been a doctor. While she had been ill, I'd read all her medical books with the childish hope that I would find something that would save her.

I sifted through the books, flicking through old and familiar pages. Then at the bottom of the box, I spotted something I had never seen before. It was a small, brown notebook. _A diary_, I realised, once I saw how the pages were dated. I flicked back to the first page and started reading.

**Please review!**


	31. The Diary of Nicola Thorne

**Excerpts From The Diary of Nicola Thorne**

**1828 – 1881**

* * *

_**Introduction**_

_To whom it may concern, to whoever may be reading this, you should be aware of two things. First of all, my name is not Veronica, but Nicola Thorne. Veronica is my middle name, given to me by my father. He may have been American, but my mother was French through and through and she was the one who named me. _

_Second of all, as I lay here, and as my soul prepares to leave this earthly body, I have repented for every act that I have committed and that you shall now read. There has only been one thing that I have cared about with all my heart in all these years, and that is my Thalia. _

_Thalia. My love, my heart, my everything... _

* * *

_**15**__**th**__** March 1868**_

_Why am I unable to have children? My husband and I have been married for more than ten years, and yet I am unable to give him a child. Ten times I have become pregnant, and each time I have miscarried. Each time something has happened, and my child has disappeared. _

_I have visited doctors, midwives, even apothecaries and practitioners of the occult. None of them have been able to help me. in fact, it only seems to get worse with every visit. As I sit here, I cannot help thinking that just one child…one child will make it all better. _

_Paul has been down to the bar more often lately. Sometimes he doesn't come back until late into the night, and sometimes he doesn't come home until the morning. He yells so much now, and when he drinks…he becomes such a monster._

_Somehow, I don't think I care anymore about him. He's not the man I married, just a rage-and-alcohol -soaked shell of a man I once loved. I just want a child. Someone who will love me and cling to me, the same way I will love and cling to them. _

_He is back now, I can hear him yelling downstairs. I have to go._

* * *

_**29**__**th**__** March 1868**_

_I see so many women with children, you know? I see children running outside, rolling hoops in the streets and laughing to one another. I see mothers with babies in the parks, sometimes in strollers, sometimes in their arms. Most times though, they are being held by nannies. _

_I see them all from the window of my room, mocking me with the fact that they have love and happiness, and they have something I cannot have._

_A woman came to see me today with her husband. She had red lips and hair, and wore a red coat. Her name, according to the hospital report I was given, is Angelina Dalles-Burnett. She didn't look happy, but she was pregnant. From what I could see, she had to be more than six months through. I touched her stomach and felt the firm, strong kicks of the child growing inside her womb. _

_It was clear to me that her husband loved her very much, and she has all she could ever need. Yet her smile seemed so sad and dead and she wouldn't meet my gaze with those red eyes of hers._

_I hated her._

* * *

_**24**__**th**__** April 1868**_

_It's done. I had to. He would have killed me first, if I hadn't done what I had. There is still the scar on my shoulder from where he smashed his bottle last night. _

_Murdering him was easy, much easier than I thought it would be. Arsenic is marvellously easy to come across when you work in a hospital, and they wouldn't notice if only a little bottle of some of the medicine went missing from the storage room. _

_I put the drug in his dinner last night, a high enough dose that it wouldn't take long for the effects to begin. He was dead before he could even rise from his chair, before he could even reach me. I felt an odd thrill of an emotion. Not guilt, not fear, but cold, morbid fascination, and I watched the way the life disappeared from his eyes. Saliva bubbled at his lips, mixed with blood and bile as he continued to convulse on the ground._

_Unfortunately, he wasn't dying quickly enough, and his movements were beginning to get too loud. Therefore, I was forced to smother the last, irritating bit of life out of him using a pillow._

_Maybe I'm going mad, but the situation struck me as gruesomely amusing. As I forced the fabric over his face and sat on his chest, I considered it all. Who knew it was so easy to take another human's life? To cut another being down in its prime? I couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of it all as he movements grew weaker; at how easy it was do what I had, at how little remorse I feel. _

_I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. I laughed as I dragged his body down the stairs and pushed it into the basement. I laughed as I packed my bags and left them by the bed and prepared to leave before my deed could be discovered._

* * *

_**30**__**th**__** April 1868**_

_The woman I mentioned earlier, the one with the red eyes and hair, was in a carriage accident earlier today. Her husband died nearly instantly. Oddly, I cannot find in my heart to feel much sadness for her. Maybe it's because I now know how easy it is to snuff out another's life. _

_I was called in to operate on her, and there I found my chance and the answer to all my prayers._

_The accident had been brutal. Her body had been thrown down and her middle had been trampled by the horse's hooves. However, miraculously, the foetus, the baby inside her was oddly unharmed. It was small, premature and barely moving, but it was alive and breathing._

_As I cradled the small bit of life in my hands, I found the answer to all my problems. I lied to the doctors and told them the baby had died. I took her home with me, wrapped and cradled in my scarf. She is tiny, but I will make sure she survives. I have named her Thalia. It is a beautiful name, right Thalia?_

_I suppose it's a good thing that this happened now, since I will have to resign from the hospital soon. It's for the best. The police are already wary of me, as people have claimed that they haven't seen my husband in a few days. If they find him, they will find traces of arsenic in his stomach, and I will be the main suspect. I must leave and find some other way to support myself. It is not what I want, but I will do anything to keep my baby and myself together for as long as I can._

* * *

_**23**__**rd**__** October 1868**_

_Unfortunately, there is only so much work that can be undertaken by a woman like myself. I did try to make a living on other ways, but few were willing to hire an unmarried woman with a child, and few offered enough pay to get us by._

_I suppose this might be the one of the more unsavoury positions, but it will provide for us. I have my own room, and I am allowed to keep Thalia with me as long as she does not interfere with the work. _

_I have changed my name to ensure that I am not found by the Yard. Nicola Thorne is a bit too obvious, and so I have created a new identity for myself. My name is now Veronica Hawthorne, an American-French immigrant searching for work. I bleached my hair and, with the thick makeup I have to wear on the job, I look nothing like I used to. _

_One of the older women acts as a wet nurse for my darling, since I cannot produce milk, and she has promised to help me care for Thalia while I am…occupied._

_At night however, when the men have gone, I sit with my baby by the low fire in my room. She is such a pretty child. She smiles when she sees me, and raises her frail little arms to embrace me. Her body is small, but she will grow. She will get strong, strong enough to protect herself and those around her._

_Sometimes I cradle her sleeping body and stare at her thoughtfully, stroking her dark red hair that is so much like that woman's. Do I feel guilty for what I did? I suppose, in some way, I do. Still, nothing could make me give up my baby. She is mine and I will cling to her with every bit of strength left in me. _

* * *

_**3**__**rd**__** January 1869**_

_For such a tiny little thing, my darling eats quite a lot. She's getting bigger now, and seems to take pleasure in dragging herself up and down the floor of the room. I've taken to keeping the floor clean, or as clean as I can, so that she doesn't hurt herself._

_I've noticed an odd mark on Thalia's neck, right at the nape. At first, I paid it little attention, because I assumed it was just a birthmark, but it really does not look like any birthmark I've ever seen. The mark is black, completely so, and makes me think of a shadow, like someone took a thin paintbrush and painted on her skin with black ink. _

_The strange thing is that I can swear that the shape wasn't there during the first few months of her life, and it also seems to be spreading along her skin. At the moment, it's just a small, vertically elongated diamond right at the nape of her neck. I have touched it, and it doesn't seem to hurt her any more than any other part of her skin, but it does worry me. _

* * *

_**15**__**th**__** August 1878**_

_I do my best to keep Thalia hidden during the day. She turned ten four months ago, and now that she is older, I have to keep her out of the brothel, and let her spend her days outside. I do not want to, though. If I had my way, I would keep her with me all the time, curl up with her in bed and read her stories into the wee hours of the morning. Sadly, that is impossible, and so I must let my little angel wander the streets of London like a tiny urchin._

_There are many reasons why I have to send her away and keep her out of site. For one, many sordid and depraved things happen in this building, and I do not want my little girl to be stained with the same kind of filth that I am. Also, several men have started to notice her, and I am afraid that something will happen if she stays too close._

_London is more horrifying than I thought._

_There is a strange, large black cat that likes to sit on the wall and watch my daughter. I see it from the window and, for some strange reason, I feel an odd chill in my chest whenever I catch sight of it. I wonder if my darling has seen it yet. She loves animals, and is always pestering me to let her catch and keep one of the rats that scurry between the floorboards at night._

_I wish that cat would leave though, but I suppose I'm probably just being paranoid. It's just a cat. _

* * *

_**2**__**nd**__** July 1881**_

_There is a penalty for every sin and transgression, and I am experiencing it firsthand. I can feel myself dying slowly. This sickness is eating me alive, I can feel it in my bones and my skin. _

_My darling sits beside me every day. She has stopped playing outside, only venturing out when forced and returning quickly. Sometimes she holds my hands, which are slowly becoming mere skeletal memories. Sometimes she cries, and her tears hurt more than the pain in my body. _

_Other times, though, she reads me books and talks about what we should do once I get better. She tells me stories of taking me away from this life, and taking care of me. Stories of the two of us walking down the streets, dressed like ladies and living happily ever after, with no men to bother us. Her stories make me smile, and I don't have the heart to tell her that none of those things can ever happen. _

_Somehow, I think she already knows. _

_She is such a strong and determined girl, and I love her so much. The fact that I am dying is not what hurts, but that I can no longer be with my darling. I can longer be with my Thalia, my daughter. I will not be there to make her dreams come true, and take care of her, and love her._

_Thalia, sweet Thalia. My love and my life. My child, and yet not even that. You are the only thing good in my life and yet you aren't even mine. You should have been with someone else, but I was too selfish and wrapped up in my own pain to care about anything else. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry Thalia._

_I love you. I love you more than anything else in this world. She is asleep now, head buried in her arms and resting my side. Her red hair spills across the pillow, so much like her mother's. _

_The shadows are growing, and I know that I will probably not see the morning. I have slipped the ring into her hand. The one that her mother, her real mother, had been wearing the day she came for the operation. I had taken it and kept it, and I cannot remember why I did. _

_I know she will hate me after she reads this, if she ever does. I'm sorry I could not tell you these things while I was alive. I was too much of a coward. I wanted your love a little longer, even though I didn't deserve it from the beginning._

_I don't think I'll make it through the night. Already it is getting colder and colder. Goodbye Thalia._


	32. Crossroads

**Thalia: Because the authoress has suddenly developed low self-esteem about this story (for some undefined reason) I'll be doing all announcements and the disclaimer *unfolds sheet of paper* dammit woman, why is your handwriting so tiny?**

**Me: Shut up and read it!**

**Thalia: *sigh* The authoress would like to thank every single reader of this story, as well as all followers/favourites and everyone who has ever sent her a PM. She would also love to give a special acknowledgement to tardiscompanion101. She also does not own Black Butler, only me, which is why she can force me to do these things**

**Crossroads**

Due to my completely disheveled appearance and slowly depleting funds, I had been forced to steal some clothes from someone's windowsill. Sure the dark pink dress was a bit tight, and pink was definitely not my colour, but at least I no longer looked like I had clawed my way out of a burning grave. My mother's diary was tucked into the bodice of my dress, between the straps of my knife holsters.

Speaking of that, I was running low on knives. I was going to have to limit how many I threw.

I turned a street corner and exhaled softly into the late morning cool air. There had been so many revelations, and in such little time too. So my name wasn't Thalia Hawthorne, but Thalia Thorne. And the woman I'd grown up with _hadn't _been my mother, but an insane murderer and thief who had cut me out of my actual mother. So who was I? Thalia Dalles-Burnett? Who was the woman whose womb had borne me?

A year ago, I had been Thalia, a London street rat doing whatever I could to survive. A week ago, I had been Thalia, a maid in the Phantomhive family who was willing to do anything to keep my master safe.

And now…who was I? Was I back to being a mere street rat once again?

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts crowding me. No matter my past, I was still who I was. Thalia was just a name given to me, a bunch of letters strung together so that I could be called by something. My name didn't define who I was. I couldn't help my past, or the way I'd been born, but I could still do something about my future.

_Angelina Dalles-Burnett_. The name didn't ring any bells. I had considered going to the Yard, since they did keep tabs on everyone in London, but I quickly decided against it. They knew who I was, and they didn't like me. At least, they didn't like Ciel. I couldn't simply _break into_ their office, I wasn't Sebastian.

A gust of cold wind fluttered the ends of my hair as I looked down at the strip of paper in my hand. Still, I had a lead. It had taken some eavesdropping, and then some threatening, but I'd finally gotten the address of a man who – according to the source – claimed to know nearly everyone in London. I'll admit, I was pretty sceptical about it, especially when I found the building.

The neighbourhood and the building looked relatively middle-class to me. Not too run-down, but not exactly nice either. Oddly enough, instead of moving into one of the upper floors, I was led down into a basement. There was a strange smell emanating from the room, and it only got stronger the further I went. It smelled like smoke, pungent herbs, sweat and other rather particularly unpleasant odours.

The moment I opened the door, I could see why: the room was filled with men lying on thin beds and smoking something from long pipes. From the scent, and the instrument, I would have to assume that the drug they were inhaling was opium. A few lay in drug-induced stupors while others hummed and babbled dreamily to themselves.

_This is disgusting,_ I raised my hand to my nose as I passed by. One of them reached for my legs. Rather than crush his hand into the ground and render it useless for life, I chose to sidestep him neatly and chalk it up to opium dreams.

_Opium,_ I frowned as I moved closer to the door on the other side of the room. _Who sells opium here? _I liked to read, but I didn't know as much as I would have liked to. Still, I knew enough to tell that opium was a drug the English had shipped into Asia. There had been wars fought over the stuff.

_Asia? Wait, don't tell me…_

"You have got to be _kidding_ me," I snarled, disbelief seeping into my tone (although I don't know why I was so surprised, really).

Lau blinked at me from underneath his assortment of women, which also included Ran-Mao, and then he grinned cheerily at me. "Hello, Ms. Maid," he greeted casually. "Looks like you found my lair. Did you reconsider my offer?"

"Not on your life, bastard." It felt so good to finally be able to insult him after all these months of being forced to act polite. "Someone told me that you know people in London, is that true?"

He hummed and puffed out a breath of smoke. "Well that depends now, doesn't it?" He replied airily. I leaned back and folded my arms across my chest as I waited for him to continue. "I know exactly why you're here, Ms. Maid."

"Somehow, I doubt that. And I'm not a maid anymore," I replied coldly. "I was sent away. I am no longer affiliated with the Phantomhives."

For some reason Lau looked faintly surprised, and then he grinned wider. "Hmm?" He hummed. "Is that what you think? Well then," he inhaled another breath and exhaled a ring of smoke. _What do you mean is that what I think? _"So, who is it?"

I blinked, briefly forgetting our earlier conversation and why I had come, and then I remembered. "Have you ever heard of anyone with the name Angelina Dalles-Burnett?"

"Angelina Da-" he blinked, and then recognition flickered across his face. "Ah, you mean the Madame?" _The…madame?_ "Why would you come to me for that information, Ms. Maid? Why don't you ask the cute little earl?"

_Ask the cute little…oh, he means Ciel. _The stale air was beginning to give me a headache. _Why would Ciel know? _"That's none of your business, bastard," I snapped. "And I just said I was done with the Phantomhives, so clearly I can't do that. Besides, you know her, don't you?" I narrowed my eyes. "Who is she?"

Lau's grin widened and he ran a casual hand up Ran-Mao's thigh, and down again, almost as though she was a highly favoured pet. "Normally my information is rather expensive," he mused. "But, since you're with the little earl, I'll lower the price." _I'm not with Ciel! _"Tell me who she is to you."

_Who she is to me?_ Well, that was simultaneously the easiest and most complicated question I had ever faced. Who was she to me? My mother? I had never know her in all my life, and another woman had taken that place in my life. Yet, for all intents and purposes, that was who she was to me.

I let out a breath of air, and grimaced, whether because of the topic, or the smoky taste of the air. "She's…my biological mother."

Had I not been watching the Chinese bastard, and had I not taught myself how to pick up on slight cues and reactions from the people around me, I might have missed the way the man froze in his seat for just a split second, and then relaxed. "Is that so?" He asked. Ran-Mao raised her head to stare at me. "Well then I'm sorry to tell you, but you've come to the wrong place."

"The wrong-? What the hell, you bastard!?" I would have reached out and grabbed him by the collar, if not for the women around him. "Just tell me who she is, goddammit!"

The Chinese man stared at me calmly. "I didn't say I didn't know who she was," he said. "I just said you've come to the wrong place. Why would you be searching for the dead in a place of dreams?"

_The…dead?_ So she was already dead. For some reason, I felt a sudden twist of sadness in my gut. Why did I feel so disappointed? I had never known her, the fact that she was gone shouldn't have meant anything to me. _Still, where is the place of the dead?_

…_wait…ah fuck…_

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian was normally very used to being in control of himself and his emotions. He was a powerful, ancient demon. He was incapable of feeling like a human. At times he used to watch the way humans let themselves go whenever something they considered bad happened to them, and laugh to himself because it was all so pointless and amusing.

Well, it _was…_

The demon stared blankly at the thin cut on his finger. Red, scarlet red, like his Mate. He was loathe to admit it, but he did miss her. Before he had found his Mate, the mere thought of sinking into despair because of something as pointless and as irrational as _love_ would have seemed absurdly stupid to him. Yet now, with her gone, he suddenly realised that it wasn't as absurd as it had seemed from the outside.

He wanted her. Beyond that, he _needed_ her. His body craved her heat, her warmth, even just her simple _presence_.

He knew she wasn't dead, if she had he would have felt her dying. He had heard stories of demons that had been driven mad by the death of their Mates, and had even died of the pain.

At least he had that relief, the knowledge that she was alright. What would make it even better was if he could _find_ her, but he hadn't had the time to do so. He hadn't expected to return and find a third of the mansion _gone_, after all.

His young master also seemed to be feeling the effects of his Mate's absence. He hadn't told the young boy that she was still alive, and he was taking some vengeful and sadistic pleasure in knowing that the younger male blamed himself for her death. Neither of them had told the other servants, instead choosing to ignore their questions.

He glanced down at the cut again. A drop of blood welled up from the injury, and slid over his finger. The demon brought his hand to his mouth and licked it away, tasting his own blood, and remembering the taste of warm skin and another's blood on his tongue.

* * *

oOo

* * *

_Stupid bastard,_ I glared at the sign at the top of the shop in front of me, and then I exhaled softly. The Undertaker's shop, why was I not surprised? He was the only mortician I knew, and he did seem to know a lot about people who had died in London.

_So this is the place of the dead? _Why did Lau have to twist it around in riddles? Half the time he just leaped in without any idea of the situation! I exhaled softly and reached for the door swung open easily when I pushed it, and I poked my head into the dark interior.

It still smelled like incense, dead people, and formaldehyde. "Undertaker?" My voice echoed faintly. "Are you here?" Silence greeted me. "I'm going to assume you're here anyway." There was silence, and then a low chuckle began to emanate from one of the coffins. "Ah, there you are…"

I watched with mild surprise, but mostly curiousity, as the top was pushed off and the man himself sat up from inside the black coffin. "Hello little maid~" he giggled. "Have you come to be measured for your own special coffin?"

"Uh, maybe some other time," I let the door swing shut behind me and waited for my eyes to become a bit more accustomed to the dimness. "I'm just here to ask you a question." My eyes followed him as he climbed out from the coffin and wandered over to the desk on the other side of the room.

The Undertaker gave an amused hum and turned to stare at me. "A question~?" He repeated. "Did the earl send you~?"

I shook my head and ran an absent hand over the cool ebony top of one of the coffins. The interior was of smooth, scarlet velvet. It looked soft, exotic, beautiful, but why? So the corpses would be comfortable? The dead had no need for material comfort. They couldn't see the darkness, and they couldn't feel the warmth.

_Simple vanity_, I decided. "No," I replied easily. "Ciel didn't send me. I don't work for him anymore. I came here on my own."

That, oddly, just made him giggle. _What is it with everyone finding this funny? _"You're amusing, little Maid. Tea~?"

Fifteen minutes later, both of us were sitting in the dim room holding glass beakers of tea, and chewing cookies shaped like bones. "These are good," I gnawed on one that tasted like gingersnaps and took a sip of my tea. It actually tasted pretty good for something that had been brewed in a glass jar. "So, can I ask my question?"

The man cocked his head at me, the smile never leaving his face. "You know the price, little Maid~" he sang. "Give me what I want, and I'll tell you what you want to know~"

Right, I had to make him laugh. I'm not a funny person, honestly. I am mostly just snarky and sarcastic, which always draws a few laughs out of people. _Ciel was like that_. The young boy and I'd had that in common. "Hmm," I thought for a moment. "Wow, I'm really not funny," I murmured under my breath. Undertaker chuckled, and I screwed up my forehead as I tried to think of something amusing to tell him. "Um, uh..."

For some reason, my mind flashed back to the day Ciel had tried to get Sebastian to stay still for a few minutes so we could take a picture of him with the magic camera. Back then, it had been annoying and tiring. _I wonder how Pluto is?_

Suddenly, it hit me with the force of a sledgehammer, that I'd left it all behind. The life I'd made in the past year, Morgan, Minthe, Pluto, Finny, Mey-Rin, Bard, Ciel and Sebastian, I'd left them all behind. _I can't go back anymore._

I inhaled sharply, fighting not to let the tears come. I did _not_ cry, definitely not in front of strange people (and they don't come any stranger than this guy). "I need more biscuits," I grabbed another one and chomped on it. The Undertaker watched me silently, but somehow his smile seemed...kinder, just a little bit. I turned my head away and forced my voice to sound normal. "You know what I need?" I suddenly blurted. "A hug," I stared at him silently. "Will you hug me?"

Even he looked confused by the sudden question, and then he chuckled and waved an arm to motion me closer. I got up and made myself comfortable on his lap. For a mortician who spent his days sewing up dead bodies, he smelled pretty good. Like incense and old books. "Be careful little maid~" he chortled. "Whatever would the butler say~?"

I snorted and reached for another cookie. "Screw the butler," I snapped. "He doesn't own me." Undertaker hummed and we sat like that for quite a while. For some reason, I felt completely comfortable with him. After a moment, a thought occurred to me and I sat up and stared at him out of narrowed eyes. "I've been wondering about something," I reached for the sleek silver hair hanging over his eyes. "Can I...?" He smiled, which I took as a go ahead, and I carefully parted the silver fringe.

Fuck.

Holy fuck.

"Wow..." I blinked once, twice, and then released the fringe. "You are...wow," I cleared my throat. "You are ridiculously good-looking, what the fuck?" Why did he cover his face like that?! He was beautiful! Even the scar going over his face didn't mar anything! _  
_

Undertaker stared at me blankly, and then burst out laughing. I had to latch onto him so that I wouldn't get thrown to the ground in his fit of mirth, but he finally calmed down and patted me on the top of the head. "Thank you, little maid~," he chuckled. "Since you've given me what I want, I'll give you what you want. Ask away~!"

_Finally_, I stared up at him seriously. "Do you know who Angelina Dalles-Burnett was?"

Just like Lau, he paused as though the name was unfamiliar, and then recognition flashed on his face (or what I could see of it). "Yes~" he replied. "But why would you be asking about her~?"

Since I'd already told Lau, and I didn't despise the Undertaker as much as the opium trader, I decided to answer truthfully. "She's...my biological mother."

Again, there was silence, and then it was shattered by the sound of a thousand hyenas braying as the Undertaker dissolved into a fit of mad cackling. He laughed even harder than he had before, and because I hadn't been able to grab onto his shoulders in time, I _did_ get thrown to the ground. I watched him blankly from the floor and reached for my now-cool tea, taking slow sips until he finally calmed down enough to talk. "You're funny, little maid~" he chuckled. "Fine, I know where she is. She is..."

Half an hour later, I was standing in front of a grave in the light of the setting sun. The Undertaker had given me a new dress to wear. It fit perfectly, although it was still tight around the chest, but at least it fit better than the previous. The dress was dark red, with long sleeves and and a wide neck. Apparently, it had been left for the deceased by the woman's niece.

_Speaking of the niece..._

I stared at the gravestone, focusing only on the name chipped onto the rock. _Here lies __Angelina Dalles. Madame Red. _Ciel's aunt. I was Ciel's cousin. In the light of that shocking new revelation, I was surprised when the first thing out of my mouth was "what the absolute fuck?"

_Now?! _This was when I was finding out about this? Now, when I had run away and claimed never to return to that life, here I was less than _two days later_, discovering that _guess what, you're actually related to him! _What sort of horrible timing was this? Who fucking _plans_ these things?!

...so, now what?

Undertaker made a low sound behind me, and then he spoke. "Like I said to the young earl, each person only gets one soul. Be careful with yours." I nodded dumbly. "Although, it is already a bit late for that. Still, be careful with what you have. And make your choice soon..." My head snapped up to stare at him in shock, and his grin only widened. "The butler is on his way."

_Sebastian? _Sebastian was coming for me? Then I really did have to hurry, because while Ciel may have sent me away, something told me the demon wouldn't be so easy to escape from.

I thought for a few seconds, and quickly narrowed down my choices. On one hand, I could run away and escape into the slums of London before he arrived. He still needed to attend to Ciel, so he couldn't constantly go looking for me. In time he would stop, and I would fade away into nothing but a memory.

That, or I could stay where I was and let him find me and bring me back to manor. I considered both for a moment. _Wait, he still needs to attend to Ciel?_ Ciel was family, and family took care of each other, no matter how messed up and broken someone was. Ciel was broken, and there was no way in _hell_ I was going to leave him to Sebastian and just disappear.

A bit of me did feel as though I would never be able to forgive him for killing all those children, but I still loved the young boy. More so now that I knew what we were to each other. That was why I dropped down beside the grave, leaned my head against the hard stone slab, and nodded at the grey-haired mortician.

"Is that your choice~?" He chuckled, and I nodded mutely. "Then I wish you good luck. I hope to see you again, little maid~."

I watched him walk away, and then I turned my face to the warmth of the sun and waited for Sebastian to arrive.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian gazed down at the sleeping face of his mate. Her hair, although now short, still fell alluringly against her skin, framing her lovely face. Her lashes were dark, and fluttered in her sleep. Her lips were pink, slightly chapped, but looked moist and soft. Her breasts were tight in the dress that she wore, and strained temptingly at the fabric with every soft breath.

In the glow of the setting sun, her body looked like a soft, ripe fruit, and he wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into her and taste her juices on his tongue. He let his eyes rake over her form, and she shivered in her sleep as though she could sense his heated gaze.

It had taken longer than he wanted to search for her, and he really hadn't expected to find her here of all places, leaning against the grave of the young master's aunt. In a way, it seemed rather strange, what with the uncanny similarity in their appearances. Asleep, and with her white-red hair, Thalia looked like a ghost of the deceased.

A quiet whimper brought him out of his thoughts, and he smiled when his Mate shifted. Clearly she was uncomfortable with her position. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, my darling," he reached for her and rose with the woman clutched in his arms. Another sound, and then she cuddled closer to his chest, instinctively seeking out his warmth.

Her scent hit him strongly, sweeter now that it was from the source. She was so close and she looked so enticing in all her vulnerability. He wanted to touch her, wanted to run his hands and lips across the smooth expanse of her skin, but he wouldn't. Touching her so intimately would wake her up, and cause his little mate to bolt.

A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he focused on her mouth and began to walk away from the grave. She was so shy when it came to anything sexual, and it amused him no end that she was to be his mate. At the same time, he guessed that was why she was still a virgin.

While it was true that many men wanted a woman that was experienced, he quite liked her the way she was. Demons were territorial creatures after all, and it appealed to his nature that she was entirely pure and untainted. And, while inexperienced, his mate was rather sensitive, and very vocal and responsive.

He wanted to map out her body, find every point that would have her clinging to him and crying out with mindless pleasure.

The man froze. His grip on her tightened, and Sebastian closed his eyes to force down the sudden surge of arousal that coursed through him at the images writhing through his mind. He had to keep himself in check, he warned himself.

Beside, things did taste better when you denied yourself, didn't they?

The wind shifted a few strands of her hair and she breathed softly, her breath tickling the skin of his neck. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I have missed you, Thalia," he murmured into her hair.

Thalia buried her face into his neck and exhaled through parted lips. "Sebastian…"

He froze, and then he chuckled and pressed a kiss to her sleeping lips. "Mine," he smiled into the air, and then dashed off in the direction of the manor.

He had a surprise for everyone.

* * *

oOo

* * *

When I woke up (and I really hadn't meant to fall asleep), there were several things I noticed. The first was that I was in a bed, when I distinctly remember falling asleep near a grave on some grass. Secondly, it was warm. Warmer than it should have been. And not _warm_ like the weather had suddenly changed and spring had come upon London in the middle of the night, but _warm_ as though there was someone on the bed with me giving off enough body heat to keep me from shivering.

I tensed and prepared to stab whoever it was in the gut with my dullest knife. However, the second I opened my eyes, I knew exactly who it was before I even saw their face. "Good morning, my darling," Sebastian smirked down at me.

"_GAH!_" I leaped away from him, or I tried to. In the next second, he had me pinned down underneath himself on the mattress. "What are you doing here?" I hissed up at him with more anger than I felt. Actually, for some strange reason, I felt oddly relieved. _He came for me. _"Wait, where am I?"

He arched an eyebrow and leaned closer until our noses brushed slightly. "You're home, of course." Of course, I glanced around once more. This was my bedroom in the manor. "As for why?" He smiled. My breathing quickened and my face grew redder to match my hair. "Because you're my mate, aren't you? You are mine. I refuse to let you go so easily."

You know, on the one hand, that explanation did cause some undefined but pleasurable emotion to skitter down my spine. On the other hand, I did not understand _why_ he was saying any of that, and why couldn't he have woken me up when he found me? And another thing, what was a mate anyway?

"I don't belong to you," I snapped back defiantly, and promptly regretted it when his eyes narrowed and he smirked darkly.

"Don't you?" He wondered. I gasped when he shifted to pin both my wrists above my head with one hand. The fingers of his other hand brushed against my throat and forced my chin up. "Unfortunately, I do regret that I didn't explain anything to you prior to this," he ran the finger along the underside of my jaw. It was such a simple gesture, but it my breath hitched and my eyes began to fall shut. "_Mm_," he hummed. "I wonder what else I can draw out of you..."

_No._ I tried to get my lips to move, to form the words, but I was finding it hard to even _breathe. _His lips brushed against the side of my face and I swallowed, hard.

"Let me make this clear then, my dear," he murmured huskily into my ear. "You are my mate. My other half. The one person that I can care for. I want _you_," he licked at the shell of my ear and bit down. "And I do not plan to let go of you anytime soon. It was a mistake to let you run, and you can be sure that it will never happen again."

_I don't want you to._ The sudden thought surprised me, and I blushed even harder. "Y-you can get off me now," I forced the words out, avoiding his eyes. "Does anyone else know I'm back?"

There was a pause, during which he seemed to be debating whether or not to listen to me or just keep torturing me. To my surprise, he picked the former and released my wrists so I could sit up. I blinked at him in mild surprise, then I forced down the slight hint of disappointment that appeared in my chest and sat up.

"No," he replied. "You might want to tidy yourself up before you return though," he suddenly reached out and fingered the strands of my hair. "It's a pity you cut your hair," Sebastian commented with an almost disappointed sigh. "You made such a mess of it too."

I snorted and glared at him. "Well forgive _me_ for not having the presence of mind to give myself a fantastic haircut while there were flames right at my heels," I swatted his hand away. "I'll be sure to keep it in mind for next time."

He just smiled, and maybe I was just seeing things, but he looked almost...caring. _Clearly I am seeing things. _"I'll prepare you a bath in a moment. You have caused everyone quite a bit of worry, my dear."

The glare on my face melted into a frown and I looked away. _Did I worry everyone? Even Ciel?_ Even though the young earl had more or less sent me away, it had mostly been the horror I had been feeling that made me run. Later, pride and shame had kept me from wanting to go back.

_Still, now that I know what we are, _I raised my hand and traced the outline of the book under my dress. _I don't think I'll ever leave him again. _Family stuck together, no matter what. At least, in my experience and somewhat idyllic mind. I knew that many families were willing to sell each other off to the wealthiest bidder, and trade a soul for something material and fleeting.

Something moved under my covers, and I felt the rough pad of a feline tongue against my fingers. "Morgan!" The large black cat meowed happily when I cuddled her to my chest. I felt all the worry and fear slip from my body. It felt good to be home again, back at the mansion, with the people I loved.

Therefore, I chalk up my next action to the sudden surge of happiness that welled up inside me, which was that I put down my cat, and then reached over and embraced Sebastian. This, unfortunately, had the added problem of causing me to fall more or less on his lap, but I decided to ignore my position. "Thalia?"

"Be quiet," I snapped quietly. "Just let me do this, and don't say a single word."

Sebastian chuckled, and then reached over to pull me properly onto his lap. "Yes, my darling," the words were murmured against my throat. I tried not to shiver at the way his lips caressed my skin, and opted to half-bury my face in his hair. _He smells good. Really good. _Like spice, and warm chocolate, and something else, and it made me want to hug him and never let go.

Unfortunately, common sense soon caught up to me, and I quickly pushed away from Sebastian with a nervous cough. "Um, well, don't you have somewhere to be?"

He frowned, but let me climb off his body before rising with the smooth grace of some wild animal. The way his eyes watched me as I scooted further away made me feel more and more like I was the prey, and I picked up Morgan once again to use as a shield. Holding her made me feel more secure. "Unfortunately I must attend to dinner, but I would prefer it if you'd let me assist you with something."

I eyed him nervously over the top of Morgan's head. "What?"

The demon smiled a smile that did not bode well for me whatsoever. "Let me bathe you."


	33. Heat of the Moment

**Revising this chapter due to some concerns pointed out to me.**

**Part of this chapter is dedicated to Elicorn (a Guest) who had a birthday recently (going by her review) and asked for a mild lemon. Well, I will not promise a **_**lemon**_** (because I am a very shy butterfly who might spontaneously combust if asked to write one) but I can promise a level 3 lime!**

**I do not own Black Butler! Note, this chapter will get a bit steamy due to Sebastian being Sebastian. Viewer discretion is advised.**

**Heat of the Moment**

I don't understand myself and the way I think, really. I mean, I constantly tell myself _over_ and _over_ that I should _not_, I repeat, _not_ be in the same room alone with Sebastian for any extended period of time otherwise bad things will most likely happen to me. Yet, what do I keep doing? Every single time I let my guard down, things happened. Like this:

"WHAT THE EVER-LOVING _FUCK? _SEBASTIAN, FOR THE LAST TIME, I WILL _NOT_ LET YOU BATHE ME!"

These words were screamed from under my bed, where I had chosen to cower and snarl, hissing curses and other such sentiments from the darkness and dust at the crimson-eyed man peering at me. He chuckled and reached for me, prompting me to scuttle further back and snap at his fingers with my teeth. "Now, now my dear," he chided tauntingly. "You can't possibly expect to stay under there forever, can you?"

"I'm going to stay under here until you leave," I bared my teeth in a scowl. "And don't even try to touch me!" I yelped when I saw his hands coming closer. "I will bite you, I swear I will!"

The hands retreated, and disappeared from my field of vision, as did his eyes. "Will you now?" He asked. "That does seem interesting. However, as amusing as this is, I am not a very patient person."

Before I could ask what he was talking about, he lifted my bed from the floor with one hand. He _lifted _it, mattress and all, with one hand like it didn't weigh anything at all. And I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering all the amazing feats I had seen him perform in the past, but I was still pretty stunned anyway.

"Well then, my dear," he smiled down at me with that innocent smile of his. "Are you ready to cooperate?" He held out his other hand to me.

I sulked for a bit before I finally took it and allowed him to pull me up from the ground. "I'm still not going to let you bathe me," I muttered as he placed my bed back on the ground with a _thud_. "Gender differences aside, I really do not trust you to not keep your hands to yourself. I definitely do _not_ want _you_ of all people seeing me naked." It would be horrifically mortifying and the embarrassment would probably kill me. "Besides, I don't understand why you want to bathe me. Other than the fact that you're a pervert, of course."

"You're filthy," he reached up and stroked my neck with a gloved hand. It came away grimy and covered in a thin film of ash. I winced at the sight, and became hyper-aware of how itchy and crusty my skin felt. I had opted to not have a bath at the inn (beyond scrubbing my face a bit) because it was still really cold and I didn't care to give myself pneumonia or anything of the sort. "I'm just here to offer my assistance." _Don't try to attempt to take the moral high ground in this situation, _I glowered at him silently and he sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I will wear a blindfold."

I considered his words for a moment, and then I grimaced. "That, and you can only wash my back." Scrubbing my back was a problem I had always had, and forcing my arms to bend backwards had always left me a bit sore.

His mouth curved upwards slightly, and he nodded. "Understood." Good. I gave a sharp nod and turned my back on him, and made my way into my bathroom. My dress was ruined, and I exhaled regretfully as I began to undo the buttons at the neck and pull it down over my shoulders. "May I assist you?"

"Go blindfold yourself!" I yelled over my shoulder, and then I kicked the door of the bathroom shut on him. My fingers fumbled on the buttons as I hastened to remove my dress as quickly as possible and get into the water before he reappeared. Sebastian had prepared the bath quite well. While the servant's bathroom was rather small - made up of only a small, ceramic tub, a toilet and a sink - he made it look grander than it actually was. Grey clouds of steam wafted from the tub in hazy, tantalizing waves. I wasn't sure what he had put into the water, but the surface was covered in a foaming mass of bubbles that smelled like vanilla and honeysuckle.

I stripped quickly and stepped into the water. _Oh my,_ I sank further into the bath and moaned in sheer, unadulterated bliss. _This is fantastic._ The bubbles and the water rose to cover most of my breasts, and tickled my skin pleasantly. The heady scents wrapped around my head filled me with a delicious sense of lethargy. A smile made its way across my lips and I exhaled softly. "I'm pleased to see that you're enjoying the bath."

"_Shit!_" I jerked forward and quickly curled up in the bath so that my front was completely out of sight. Water sloshed out of the tub from the sides. I don't know why I bothered, since the bubbles hid everything important from his view. "Do you by any chance know of this thing called _knocking?_"

He arched an eyebrow and moved to carefully kneel behind me on the wet floor. There was a long red scarf in his hands, which I assumed he had brought to act as a blindfold. "I did," he replied easily. "You just didn't hear me." _Then knock harder, _I scoffed and didn't relax until he had wrapped the strip of cloth around his head and tied it tightly over his eyes. "Shall we begin?"

As uncomfortable as I might have been, I had to admit that Sebastian was pretty amazing at this. His hands were gentle, but firm, running over my skin with such care that I might have been fine porcelain or glass. Normally I hated being treated like I was some delicate creature, but I will admit that it was nice to feel pampered and cherished, even for just a moment.

I let myself drift back into that relaxed stupor, and my thoughts began to wander. The last person to wash my back was a woman I'd shared a living space with a few years earlier. Where was she now? It was odd that I hadn't thought about her in so long. What had her name been anyway? It had been so long ago that I couldn't remember, only that it had started with an M. Or was it an N?

_Who cares? _Fingers pressed against a sore point on my back, and I unconsciously let out a pleased moan, and then a purr. Sebastian laughed quietly at the sound, but I couldn't find it in me to feel as embarrassed as I would have. His hands travelled further upwards towards my shoulders, and then my eyes snapped open when I felt his fingers brush against the skin of my neck.

A sound like a cross between a gasp and a choked moan slipped past my lips. I jerked and my fingers flew to the back of my neck. "Oh my," he didn't sound apologetic in the least. "Did I touch it?"

My body was still tingling from the singular caress, and I shifted further away from him even as my body urged me to stay put. "What was that?" I demanded. "Why does it keep doing that? And why only when you touch me?" I frowned suddenly when something occurred to me. "Does it have anything with what you told me earlier?"

Sebastian reached up to pull the blindfold away, and I opted to sink up to my shoulders in the bubbly water rather than warn him to keep it on. "It does," he looked far too pleased with himself. "That is my Mark."

"Your…mark?" I repeated. A mark, so that was what it was.

Sebastian nodded. "Every demon has one, and they normally appear on the…less powerful or less dominant mate. The reason others can touch it and not have _this_…" he suddenly ran a finger up the back of my neck. I immediately gasped and sunk up to my chin. "…happen, is a strange but effective way of proving that one is the mate of the other."

"_Would you stop that?!_" I glared at him from above the water. "In what cases would that be necessary anyway?"

Sebastian straightened and smirked down at me. "Some demon marks look similar, although every demon should be able to recognise their own insignia no matter what. Others, on the other hand, may simply want to steal another's mate for one reason or another."

_Ah, _I understood the logic. _So if the demon touches the mark, then the mate feels pleasure?_ That just seemed…strange. It also sounded like some sort of conditioning technique. "That seems strange," I said aloud. "Alright, get out. I can do the rest by myself," I held out my hand for the sponge and soap.

Sebastian tilted his head to the side in mock-concern. "But Thalia, I can't leave until I've cleaned _every_ bit of your skin…"

"Wha-? _Gah! Sebastian, I said just my back! That is not my back!_"

* * *

oOo

* * *

**No One's POV**

The door of the bathroom slammed shut with a firm bang, and Sebastian could not help chuckling to himself. He supposed he _had _gotten a bit too excited, shall we say, but he couldn't help himself. The sight of his mate lying there, vulnerable, skin resplendent against the steam curling from the bath, the knowledge that she was completely naked and _so close to him_...

He exhaled a shaky breath and closed his eyes to tamp down the sudden flood of _want_. Oh he wanted her. More than that, he _needed_ her. Needed her skin against his own and the taste of her in his mouth. Needed to know how she tasted, her lips, her blood, her _everything_.

* * *

oOo

* * *

On the other side of the door, the maid was completely unaware of the turmoil the butler was going through. She had finished her bath and drained the water, and was drying her skin with the towel Sebastian had left behind. At_ least I managed to make it out of the bath relatively unscathed so I'll give myself kudos for that_, She exhaled as she draped the towel around her hair and rubbed vigorously. The man had also given her a haircut, since her hair was mostly just a rough bob that had gone frizzy with all the steam. Now it fell to her shoulders in neat and slightly curly manner.

Once dry, she ran a hand over the glass of the steamed up mirror and contemplated her appearance. There were new scars adorning her face and shoulders, small white crescents where they had healed, and pink lines where they were still relatively new. Her hands had sustained a few minor burns and scrapes, but nothing she couldn't ignore. Out of curiousity, she twisted her body around and managed to catch sight of the pointed edge of the so-called Mark. Sebastian's mark. _No wonder he was always flirting with me,_ she thought.

Speaking of the demon, due to many complications, she had banished him from the bathroom, and had honestly expected him to have left her room by the time she stepped out of the bathroom, but when she opened the door and stepped out, he was still there, standing in front of her cupboard and sifting methodically through her clothes.

The task was menial enough to help him control the sudden base urges he had, but all of that control went right out the window as his eyes rose from his task at the sound of the door creaking open, and his widened at the sight of his Mate standing in the doorway.

She was clad in only her underwear, and a short, near translucent off-white slip that hung over her skin and revealed muted shadows of what lay underneath. Her skin was flushed from her bath, and looked deliciously supple. His eyes darkened with every second that he gazed at her, and he traced the curves and planes of her body with his eyes; from the slope of her shoulders, swell of her breasts, to the curve of her hips, over her thighs, to that sweet place between her legs…

She hadn't noticed him, as her eyes were shut and she drying her face, but when she did she couldn't help releasing a sound of shock. Her arms came up to shield as much of her body as she could from his gaze. "Sebastian! Why are you still here?!" Her words barely registered to him, but he took in the way her head darted round as she looked for a means to escape.

The man cocked his head to the side, though his eyes still held that same dark heat that she could almost feel on her skin like a warm caress. "I kept my hands to myself when needed," he lifted a hand to his lips and peeled off the glove covering the skin. "I think I deserve a reward, don't you think?"

The other glove came off, and the demon smirked as he came closer. Thalia trembled at the look in his eyes. For some reason, her feet refused to move. Not until he brushed a finger up her arm, and by then it was too late. The sudden rush of arousal sent heat prickling through her skin, tightened her throat, and terrified her. She took a step back.

He followed, pressing himself closer to her. "Where do you think you're going, my darling?" Arms wrapped around her waist and pinned her back to the wall of the bedroom. Sebastian bit back a harsh groan at the feel of her body against his, the softness of her skin held firmly against him.

In spite of the desire quickly arcing its way through her body, she still managed to glare up at him - albeit, rather ineffectually - and snap. "Away from you!" She lifted her arms to push him away, but then found the limb pinned to the wall by her wrist. Unthinkingly, she tried again, only for the same thing to happen with the other. Chuckling, Sebastian forced his knee between her legs, keeping her pressed against the wall and moulding her smaller body against his own. "Sebastian!"

"Hush, Thalia…" Her name slid off his lips like silk, and she felt her body respond to the sound of his voice and the way his body so clearly dominated hers. She could see the want in his eyes clear as day, see the way desire turned his eyes dark like wine and blood. "Indulge me, won't you?" His eyes were glowing, swirling with energy and his smile revealed teeth that looked just a bit sharper than normal.

_So soft, _Sebastian cupped her face with the hand that wasn't pinning both of hers, and slid his thumb over her bottom lip. _Sweet._ Her lips were parted, pink, and moist. The look in her eyes, the way her breath came in sharp whimpers every time he moved, the way her body responded to his so willingly, he could tell that she wanted him almost as much as he wanted her. Her mind might be fighting him, but that would soon change.

He forced himself closer, as close as he could possibly get, and hissed quietly. He could feel her heat against his thigh, and it was doing marvellous things to his self-control. The aroma of her, of her skin surrounded him, and it was all he could do not to throw her down on the bed and take her there and then. His fingers itched to slide under the fabric and cup the skin of her thighs.

Or maybe just rip the fabric off entirely, slowly. He could tie her up and carefully tear the fabric off her, starting from the top, the tip of his finger dragging down over her collar, her chest...

Oh the many ways he could, but couldn't. His senses snarled when she squirmed, the resulting movement sending more heat curling through him. His fingers tightened on her chin and tipped it up. _Don't fight me, my Mate._

_Don't fight him._ A whimper bubbled in her throat when he leaned closer. His lips were just a few millimetres from her own. Thalia could feel the heat of his body through his clothes, through the ridiculously thin slip she was wearing. His leg between hers was distracting, almost pressing against that one part of her anatomy that was supposed to be private, and yet the woman couldn't bring herself to care how much of herself she had bared to him. He was so big, so powerful, so warm, that it had her melting against him.

_I don't want to._ His mouth covered hers in a bruising kiss. The hand that had been clutching it released her wrists, and came to wrap itself around her waist and gather her closer. Sebastian made a sound deep in his throat, tracing the seam of his Mate's lips with his tongue, before plunging past and tasting the interior of her mouth. Thalia moaned quietly and clung to him. He tasted like spice and dark chocolate, something bittersweet and heady and utterly addictive. Her hands came up to wrap around his shoulders for stability.

Sebastian pulled away from the kiss, licking his lips to gather her taste on his tongue, a flavour he couldn't put a name to but one he couldn't get enough of. He began pressing hot kisses to the side of her neck, eager to taste her skin now. "You taste so sweet," he muttered between every kiss, every lick. His hands tangled in her hair and he pulled, baring her throat to him so he could scrape her teeth against the taut and tender skin.

"Mine," he hissed, dragging his lips up her throat and nipping her ear. "You're _mine_. _Say it._"

But she was so far gone, the sensation of his lips on her throat and his breath on her ear had rendered her near senseless. It felt so _good_, and she could feel the beginnings of an agonisingly pleasurable throb beginning to form between her thighs.

When she didn't respond immediately, Sebastian snarled and bit down on the junction of her neck with almost sadistic pleasure. She yelped and clutched at the back of his coat, sobbing out his name. "Sebastian-ah!"

He soothed the mark with his tongue and pressed a harsh kiss to the forming bruise. He would mark her as his in more ways than one. "The proof is on your body," he murmured against the hollow of her throat, against the place where her pulse beat wildly. "But I will make you admit it. I will give you pleasure, have you crying, _screaming_ as I touch you. How much of it can you take, my sweet?"

A thud, and then Thalia suddenly found herself in his arms, still backed up against the wall, but now her neck was at the perfect height for him to molest. "Wh-what are you doing?!" She placed her hands on his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist for stability. This action had the added effect of nestling their lower parts snugly together, a realisation that caused the flush on her cheeks to darken even more. "Put me down! I mean it, put me-_ah!_"

Sebastian rocked his hips against hers again. Slowly this time, sensually, and he chuckled darkly at the way she reacted. Her body pulsed in his arms and he couldn't resist rocking into her again, just to hear the sounds she made. "I can tell how much you want me, my darling," he whispered huskily into her throat. "Let me ravish you, Thalia. I want you," he pressed a kiss to her chest, to the place where her beat right above her left breast. He could feel the unsteady vibrations, could taste the satin smoothness of her skin, and a sudden wave of something that felt very much like _happiness_ washed over him. "I missed you."

_He what?_ The words filtered through the haze of pleasure, and Thalia pulled back to stare down at the man in front of her, into his eyes that still glowed with desire, but also with tenderness. It had never occurred to her that he could look at her, or anything (except maybe cats) with that level of emotion, and yet here he was.

Desire lowered, replaced by something gentle and affectionate. She cupped his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his forehead, much in the same way he had done to her many times. It was a soft kiss, very different from the heated kisses and bites she had been receiving.

"...I missed you as well," she replied. "I'm sorry I ran. I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry..." With every apology, she pressed another kiss to his face.

To say he was stunned was a bit of an understatement. Sebastian couldn't remember the last time he had been the recipient of such heartfelt affection. In addition, he couldn't remember the last time someone had apologised to him in the same way. Slowly, he felt himself sink down to the floor of her bedroom, and then he pressed another kiss to her neck, softer than the others.

"My darling..."

Thalia felt him mouth the words against her throat. For a long while, the two simply sat together on the floor of her room. She didn't think about that fact that her body was more or less straddling his, or that his face was resting very nearly on her breasts because, as she would say, _we were having a moment, goddammit!_ "May I help you get dressed?"

_Moment gone_. "No."

* * *

oOo

* * *

**Thalia's POV**

In the end, I kicked him out after five more minutes of hugging, and then I wandered over to my cupboard to look for something to wear. My body still thrummed with energy, and the memory of his hands and lips on my skin, and walking around nearly half-naked was not helping matters whatsoever. I ran a finger through the shorter strands of my hair with one hand, and pulled the door of my cupboard open with the other.

The interior looked exactly the same as it did when I left. I don't know why I expected it to be any different, or for it to feel different. My uniforms were still there, as were some aprons, a few nightdresses, and then some casual outdoor clothes.

I stared at the outfits silently, before grabbing my Phantomhive maid uniform and donning it. The fabric felt warm and familiar, like a home I was coming back to after a long time away (even though I'd only been gone, what, two days?).

Sebastian was waiting outside the door for me. When I pushed the door open, his eyes trailed up my body like I _wasn't_ just wearing a uniform and I was still wearing the slip. "Eyes back up, demon," I shut the door behind myself and strutted past him. "Does Ciel know I'm back?"

"No," Sebastian replied easily. "Actually, the young master believes that you are dead."

I froze in the middle of the corridor and whirled around to stare at Sebastian. "_He what?!_" I was completely flabbergasted because I had not been expecting that sort of response at all. "Wait, you knew I was alive, right?" Of course he did, otherwise he wouldn't have been searching for me. "Why the _hell_ didn't you tell him I was still alive?!"

His eyes flashed slightly, and then I found myself in his arms. One of his hands held mine above my head, and his other hand kept my chin tilted up so I was forced to meet his eyes. _We're not doing this again! _"Because of his order, _I_ _could have lost you_," his voice was a near hiss, not exactly angry, but not necessarily pleased either. "You may consider it a punishment of sorts."

_Ah,_ I blinked, and then I looked into Sebastian's eyes, _really_ looked. Like I said earlier, I had always thought the only emotions Sebastian had were amusement, anger, and that look of sheer joy when he spotted anything feline. Now, when I focused, I could see more.

Anger, yes, but there was also pain, relief, and something that looked rather gentle. I exhaled softly and reached up to cup his left cheek with my free hand. His eyes flickered in surprise, and I felt his grip on my wrist relax just a bit.

"I'm here," I said, brushing my thumb against the skin under his eye. "Ciel was in pain, I was in pain, but you didn't have to make the pain worse for him. You're his butler," I leaned up and kissed him briefly on the cheek, and then I whirled away before he could call me out on my recent and oddly affectionate actions. "Okay, where is the young master anyway? Wow, was this place always so big? I wonder where the servants are..."

Arms suddenly wrapped around me from behind. "_Mine,_" Sebastian murmured into my ear. I froze and my breath hitched when I felt burning lips press against my jaw. "I did miss you, my little Mate."


	34. The Phantomhive Ghost

**HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! **

**I don't know why Fanfiction is acting up this way, but I re-uploaded the chapter and I think that helped. I'm so happy about the reviews I already got, and I hope all of you have a fantastic 2015! Thank you for sticking with this story for so long, you are all fantastic human beings!**

**I do not own Black Butler.**

**The Phantomhive Ghost**

**No One's POV**

The feel of his Mate in his arms had been nearly rapturous to Sebastian. To have her body so close to his, her soft curves pressed against him so firmly, and her _scent_. That scent could nearly drive him insane. She smelled absolutely _delicious_, and he wanted to devour her, taste every inch of that warm, smooth satin skin, to bruise her body and have her bruise his in return.

To leave his essence on her, within her, and leave proof of their bond upon her body.

But, unfortunately, there were other things that needed doing, and his Mate was behaving much like a frightened kitten, but she was moving closer. It was clear that she felt something for him. She cared for him, if that kiss was anything to go by. The expression on her face, the way she gasped when he touched her, it made him want to touch her more, have her make those sounds louder and only for his ears.

He wanted to see her expression when she came undone, when she arched her body up against his own and gave herself up to him. He wanted the scent of her arousal curling about his head, the taste of it on his tongue...

Sebastian shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts, and reached up to knock on the door of the young master's study. Ciel had spent more time in his study than before. Of course the young master had always been a bit of a recluse, but he seemed to have become a bit more tucked away ever since they had left the Baron's house. "Young master? I have brought your dinner."

On the other side of the door, Ciel massaged his forehead with a silent groan. What was _wrong_ with him? He was the head of the Phantomhive family. He hadn't fallen apart when Madame Red had died, and here he was moping simply because a simple servant had died.

_Maybe you feel this way because you know it's your fault_. His mind could be a treacherous thing.

_If she hadn't run away, she could have left with us._

_Why would she want to? You killed all those children out of your own selfish anger. Why would she want to be around something like you?_

Ciel snarled and slammed his hand onto the table in front of him. The fog cleared from his mind for a moment, and he became aware of someone knocking at the door. Sebastian. There had been some..._tension_ so to say, between him and the butler since that night. He was aware that the demon had harboured strong feelings for Thalia, but now she was gone, and clearly he was to blame.

"Come in," he sighed, resigning himself to another silent night of internal and external loathing. The door creaked open, and someone poked their head in, someone he hadn't expected to see again.

"_Ciel!_" Thalia flew across the room and nearly tackled the thirteen-year-old boy off his chair. "Ciel, I am _so_ sorry for running away! I love you so much please don't fire me!" The arms around his neck were choking, to say the least, but he was able to make sense of the blubbered words after he'd gotten over the shock of her being alive.

_She's alive..._

_...and I can't breathe. _He waved his arms wildly to gesticulate that she was, indeed, choking him, and that she should release his neck lest he collapse from lack of oxygen to vital parts of his body. With an exclamation of slight surprise, she pulled back. Accordingly, air rushed in to fill his lungs and he gasped. "Um, sorry about that," she laughed nervously.

After regaining his breath and bearings, he stared up at the woman in front of him. She looked exactly the same, maybe sporting a few more scratches, and her hair was shorter than before. So she hadn't died that night; her braid must have gotten caught on something and she'd hacked it off before the flames could reach her.

Ignoring the feeling of relief and slight happiness (he did not feel _happy_ dammit!) seeping into his chest, Ciel settled for a blank, near apathetic demeanour. He folded his arms across his chest and eyed her pointedly. "And where have you been?" He asked coolly.

Thalia pouted and folded her arms across her chest. _That's a cold welcome from someone who thought I was dead. _Maybe he was angry with her for running away but, in her defence, he had more or less told her to. "Places," she replied airily. "For one, I went to visit my mother's grave." Ciel's mildly surprised expression suddenly reminded her that she hadn't really told the younger male anything about her family or background. "And then I went back to...that place."

Ciel's eyes narrowed at the way she suddenly seemed to taper off and avoid his gaze. She was hiding something. "And where would _that place_ be, exactly?" Her red eyes met his nervously, and he was suddenly struck by a strange feeling of familiarity. He had seen that face before somewhere else, but he couldn't remember where. "Well?"

The curtains fluttered when she breathed out. _His food is getting cold,_ the thought occurred absently to her. _Should I tell him?_ A part of her was ashamed, and yet another part of her felt defiant. So what if her past was bloody and confused? So what if she had grown up such a depraved place? The past was in the past, and she could do nothing about it now, the same way she could have done nothing about it then.

With this in mind, the woman exhaled again and fixed the boy in front of her with a challenging stare. "A brothel," she said the words sharply, curtly. "My mother was a prostitute in a brothel and I grew up there until I turned thirteen. I went back there to collect anything I'd left behind her."

The silence...stunned, to say the least. Clearly, neither of the male inhabitants of the room had expected her to say that. _Really?_ Thalia blinked and glanced back at Sebastian curiously. _I'm pretty sure I told him. Or maybe I didn't._ She couldn't remember.

Ciel cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. "Ah..." Although he was a good actor, he couldn't disguise the slight flush of pink on his skin. _Aw, how adorable!_ "Anything else?"

_Anything else?_ Yes. There was so much more, news that would probably stun him the way it had stunned her. The only problem at the moment was that now she had no idea how to voice it. What could she say? How do you tell a person you have been living with for only half a year that you are actually blood-related cousins?

Well, she could always try. "Well, they still had a bunch of my mother's things that they hadn't thrown out, including her diary. Apparently," this was where it got painful and hard to face. "As it turns out, she wasn't actually my blood mother. According to her, my mother was someone named Angelina Dalles-Burnett."

Ciel recoiled back in shock, and then he caught himself. "That's impossible," he snapped. She was lying, she had to be. He had seen his au-, Madame Red's cinematic record, and there had been absolutely no mention of a child whatsoever.

Still, the longer he stared at her, the more it began to dawn on him just how _similar to his aunt_ Thalia looked. How had he not noticed it before? Obviously a part of him hadn't wanted to see it, but now it was standing right in front of him and staring at him in the face.

He blinked and realised that he had been staring at her with wide eyes for far too long, and he quickly snapped back to his usual annoyed demeanour. "Madame Red never had any children. I don't know what you've been told, but you've clearly been misguided."

Thalia frowned and folded her arms across her chest. No, she had not expected the young earl to believe her immediately, but it would have been much easier if he had. As she moved, something bumped against her arm and she blinked. "Oh, right, I brought it with me," she murmured to herself, and then she suddenly began unbuttoning the front of her dress.

"_What are you doing?!_" Ciel averted his eyes quickly, the flush on his face returning with a vengeance and growing darker. "Have you gone mad, woman?!"

Thalia blinked, and then rolled her eyes. "Calm down, I wasn't about to strip," she replied. "I brought something with me that I wanted to show you."

Sebastian grinned slightly. "May I be of assistance?"

"Touch me, and I will punch you," Thalia turned her back to both of them, and pulled the book out of her dress. After buttoning her dress, and generally rearranging herself, she turned back to face Ciel. "Here."

The earl eyed the book quietly. It was clearly old, the leather cover was faced, and thinning in some places. "Your mother's diary, I presume?" She nodded in reply, and handed the notebook to him when he held out his hand. The pages were yellow when he flicked through it, torn in some places. The ink had faded over the years, but he could still make out the scratchy writing.

"My…mother, she was a doctor," Thalia explained quietly. "Well, a surgeon. Or, at least she used to be. Madame Red came to her before her accident, and she operated on her after. The reason your aunt never knew she had a child because _she never knew that her baby was alive._"

Ciel kept flicking through the diary, if only to give his hands something to do while he pondered her words. Her story was fantastic, but she clearly believed it, and he knew that Thalia was not a liar. At least, she had never lied to _him_. "How could she have not known she had a child?" He asked. "Why would the hospital hide something like that from her? And why would you have ended up with that other woman?"

At that, Thalia seemed to shrink slightly into herself. Her eyes lowered, and he knew that the answer to those questions were things that she would probably never enjoy thinking about. Hands and arms that had lain by her sides rose to wrap around herself in a subconsciously defensive manner.

Thalia focused on the books in the shelf, on the darkly coloured spines and the titles she couldn't see. "Because my mother was mad," her voice was quiet. "Mad, and insane, and selfish. Even though the accident was probably brutal, the impact hadn't damaged the foetus. My mother was in charge of the operation. She took the baby home and raised it because she couldn't have any children of her own. You know," she gave a small smile. "It was probably really difficult. Caesarean operations aren't easy to conceal."

Silence filled the room, stunned, expectant, and contemplative, and then Sebastian spoke. "I see," he said. "That's why you resemble her so much, isn't it?"

Ciel and I stared at the butler with wide eyes. "Wait, you _knew_ about this?" The earl snarled at him. It was bad enough that the demon had concealed the fact that Thalia was alive and left him to two days of self-loathing, but why would he withhold something like _this?_

Sebastian held up his hands in a half shrug. "No," he replied. "I merely noticed the similarity between the two of them at some point. Of course, I still believed in the notion that Madame Red had never had a child. I must say," he stared at me. "That is a rather extraordinary story. Yet, at the same time, it seems plausible."

The young earl glared at his butler for a few more seconds, and then turned back to Thalia. The more he studied her, the more obvious it seemed. The fact that her hair had now been cut short only seemed to make the similarities even more glaring. She had the same eyes, and the same nose, but my face was slightly sharper than the Madame's. If her hair had been red all through, she could have been a younger version of his aunt.

_But instead, she is my cousin._ The notion was odd, but not unpleasant. He did not dislike Thalia. Actually, the woman's blunt and sarcastic nature was quite amusing. There was just one problem...

Thalia suddenly spoke again. "You know," she gave a half shrug. "This really changes nothing. I mean, I would still love to serve as a Phantomhive servant, and I will still protect you with everything I have. I'm sorry I ran, and it won't happen again, young master."

Well that answered his unspoken question: she wasn't trying to integrate herself into the family for the title or the money. Ciel leaned back in his chair and levelled her with a stern stare. "Even if what you said is true," he arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you telling me that you don't want the Phantomhive name?"

_The Phantomhive name?_ That had never occurred to her, and the idea made her eyes widen and her chest constrict. She shook her head, and dropped her gaze to the floor. His brows rose at her deferential pose. "I may be a bit presumptuous, and more audacious than I probably should be..." He resisted the urge to snort at that. Ciel wasn't sure _why _he let her get away with a lot of the things she did, but it really hadn't seemed right to scold her. Maybe this was why. "But even I know that is something I can't even _presume_ to want. I'm not really a Phantomhive, am I?"

_I'm just related to one._

Ciel stared at her silently for a few seconds, and then he scoffed under his breath and reclined fully in his chair with his eyes shut. Even without the name attached to her own, they shared the same blood running through their veins. Yet, even with this revelation, now that she shock had passed, he realised that barely anything had changed in the way that he viewed her, and clearly she felt the same way.

_In that case... _"Do whatever you want then," he reached for the diary and pulled it closer to himself. He would read it later, when he was alone.

The maid blinked at that curt end to the conversation. After considering his demeanour, she decided to take it as a sign that she was forgiven and consequently re-hired (if she had ever been sacked in the first place), and she grinned widely and curtsied. "Then, excuse me young master," she turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.

"Thalia?" She twisted around curiously. Ciel stared at her out of his one visible eye, and then glanced at Sebastian, silently instructing him to leave. The man frowned slightly, but opted to obey the unheard command by dragging the uneaten tray of food out of the room and murmuring something about preparing a later meal.

Thalia watched Sebastian leave, and then looked back at Ciel. He was regarding her was a less hostile expression than before, and there was a tiny, almost unseen smile playing about his lips. Actually, it more resembled a smirk, but she supposed that was his own version of a smile.

"Welcome back."

…_fuck, I forgot how cute he was. _"_Ciel!_" Thalia promptly ran back across the office and tackle-hugged him tightly around the neck.

"What the-?! _Get off me, woman!_"

**Seeing as there is no way for me to get the Phantomhive Murders Arc at the moment (it isn't out on Funimation yet) so I will be doing a few filler chapters to pass the time. I would use the manga, but I want to see how they animate it. Please read and review!**


	35. A Phantomhive Welcome

**Filler number one! I'm going to be adapting from the manga from here on out. It is so much better than the anime! The Campania arc was great. I mean, it's basically the Titanic, but with zombies. I once read a book called **_**Pride, Prejudice and Zombies**_** and it was pretty good. I mean, there were ninjas, some cannibalism and hordes of the undead running around Victorian England, but it was still great.**

**I do not own Kuroshitsuji whatsoever.**

**A Phantomhive Welcome**

Even though Ciel really didn't seem to care whether or not I was his family, I did notice that his approach to me changed slightly in the coming days.

For one, I kept catching him watching me during the day while I was working, or just lazing around outside. He also gave me access to his library after I mentioned how much I liked reading. I could have squeezed the life out of him with my hug, but I didn't.

I mean, I already got away with quite a lot, the teasing, the hugging, the sitting on his desk and the armrest of his chairs etc. Ciel would have scolded anyone for doing the same thing, but with me he behaved like I had the right to stay where I was.

_Maybe some part of him already recognised me as family before he even knew,_ I considered the theory. _If I look a lot like his aunt, and we're cousins, maybe some unconscious part of him recognised me._

Finally, and this might have been the biggest event, he gave me the box with Madame Red's things. All the books and clothes that the woman had left behind, he just handed them over to me one day. "If Madame Red was really your birth mother, then you'll want her things, won't you?"

There were quite a lot of outfits in the box, and almost all of them were in red. There were some other colours, but those were mostly in the accessories. I tried on one of the outfits: a white, long-sleeved top, a fitted dress and a red hat with a wide brim. It looked good, but when Mey-Rin came into the room and I turned to face her, she screamed and ran off yelling something about a ghost.

It was too bad the woman hadn't kept a diary of any sort, but she did have a lot of medical texts (so she was a doctor as well?) as well as a few books and thin pamphlets on ladylike behaviour. I had been reading one in the kitchen, and grimacing with every word.

_A woman is a weak, delicate creature, whose only pleasures in life should be domestic activities, fashion and entertaining. It is their place to simply be surrounded by the finest of things, lest they break like the most delicate of china._

_Who the hell writes these things?_ I stared at the paragraph and grimaced. _That has to be one of the most pretentious thing I have ever read in my life._ Why did she even have those? If she really cared so much about propriety, she wouldn't have gone around in such a bright colour like red. She would have worn things like pastel pink, or cornflower blue, or anything.

_Still, I don't think that would have suited her. Red seems much more fitting for someone like her, and for someone like me._

The day dawned, bright and early. Morgan waited until I had rolled out of bed, before curling up on the warm spot left on my pillow. I bathed quickly and pulled on my maid uniform with haste. Sebastian had mentioned to me the day before that we were going to be having guests later that day, and we needed to put the place in order.

After arranging my hair into a neat and suitable style, I hurried out of my room, down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sebastian had already prepared Ciel's breakfast, so it was just my duty to bring it upstairs to him. "Good-morning, young master," I pushed the trolley into the room. "I trust you slept well?"

I'd been making an effort to brush up on my servant-skills. More specifically, this meant that I had started making a conscious effort to refer to Ciel as _young master _and not simply by his first name as I usually did. "Yes, I did," Ciel glanced at me, and then looked away.

Sebastian quickly removed the covers from the plates on the tray, and deftly arranged Ciel's breakfast in front of him with a mild flourish. "Today's breakfast is a ham and grapefruit salad, poached salmon, a root vegetable soup and croissants," he stepped back and, not for the first time, I wondered why Ciel wasn't chubbier/taller/heavier that he was.

Not that there was anything wrong with his general physique. I mean, for a thirteen year old boy, he was rather beautiful.

After breakfast, Sebastian assembled all the servants in order to give us our tasks and assignments for the day. "Mey-Rin, collect and launder all the sheets. Finny, tend to the plants in the greenhouse. Bard, prepare some bread dough. Tanaka..."

I stared down at the tiny, cute little steward. As always, he was kneeling calmly on a tatami mat and sipping tea cheerfully. Occasionally he would take a sip of his tea, before puffing out his customary laugh.

"...please act as usual," Sebastian finished. "Thalia, please dust and sweep the rooms." I nodded and folded my arms across my chest as he continued. "Also, we're expecting guests today," he informed the others. "So _do_ be on your best behaviour."

Bard perked up at the prospect of having visitors that he could stun with his incredibly special cooking skills. "Then I, the chef, will make my special dinner-!"

Before he was even done speaking, the end of a rolling pin was pointed right at his face. "I _said_ be on your best behaviour, didn't I?" Sebastian's smile was cheery, which meant that his thoughts were just a few steps below maiming you. "Therefore, the three of you will stay quietly out of sight, and not do anything uncalled for," he handed the rolling pin to Bard. "And I do mean _quietly_."

I watched the three of them scatter to their posts, and then I turned to the butler. "I don't know why you insist on giving them work when 8 out of 10 times, something eventually gets broken that shouldn't be," I stared at him. Don't get me wrong, I do love the three of them (especially Finny), but they were all rather inept at doing domestic tasks.

"Simple training," he replied, and then he looked down at me and arched an eyebrow. "Didn't I give you work to do?"

"Alright, alright, I'm _going_," I grabbed the duster and broom from the back room and exited the kitchen, leaving Sebastian to his own tasks. I made my way into the parlour room first. I had devised a system for dusting the manor. Well, I say _devise _when it's really just something that occurs naturally whenever i'm cleaning.

My ingenious (not really) plan was that I simply worked my way up or down, depending on where I was when I started cleaning in the first place. For example, if I was upstairs, I'd work my way down. If I was downstairs, I'd work my way up. One of Madame Red's pamphlets had said something about how it was always important to dust the bedrooms first, but the manor had far too many rooms and bedroom, and my method made for much less walking.

In this case, I was working my way up the interior. First, I dusted the parlour, then the dining room, and then I polished the staircase on my way up. The bedrooms, I always left for last since Ciel rarely went back into his room until bedtime, and there was no one else using the spares. One of the rooms was always required to be kept clean in case we had a visitor who wanted to stay the night.

As I was coming out of one of the rooms, I spotted Morgan and Minthe in the brightly lit corridor. They were both sitting on the windowsill and staring at something beyond the glass with rapt attention. _Hmm? What are those two doing?_ I walked over to them and peered out as well.

They were staring at the trees rather fixedly, although Minthe seemed to lose interest in whatever she was looking at the second I appeared. "What is it?" I stroked the top of her head absently. "Do you want to go outside, then?"

She mewled, and I scooped them both into my arms. _How odd._ My eyes took in the lush greenery just a few yards away. Spring had arrived, and the trees were beginning to show signs of rejuvenation. There were flowers blooming, and some of the migrated birds had become to return home.

Several birds landed on the lawn and began to peck at something in the grass, before fluttering away. I turned and began walking away from the window. "I can't put you out right now," I put them both on the ground and nudged them in another direction. "Go entertain yourselves elsewhere. But not where Ci - I mean - not where the young master will see you, alright?"

Morgan mewed, and slunk off with her baby in tow. I watched them for a moment, and then I glanced back at the trees with a smile and moved off. _How lovely._

I met Sebastian coming out of Ciel's study and I paused beside him. "I'm done for now," I squeezed the duster and placed it over my shoulder. "This manor has too many rooms."

"You certainly look like you've been thorough," he lifted his hand and brushed a speck of dust from my cheek. I batted his hand away with my free hand, and glared up at him. Sebastian just smirked, and then pulled a silver pocket-watch from his coat. "Since you are no longer busy," he tilted his head to the side in a way that made his hair fall slightly into his eyes. "Would you care to help me prepare for the evening's entertainment?"

I blinked once, and then narrowed my eyes even as I began to follow him. "Do you mean normal peoples' entertainment, or _Phantomhive _entertainment?"

A quiet laugh. "What do you think, my dear?" _Why did I even ask?_ I really should have known better. "First, dish selection," he nodded to the cabinet where the china was kept. _Why so many types?_ "We'll use playful, colourful Herend dinnerware, which suits a meeting about children's goods."

_Herend? _I watched Sebastian pick up each plate, before settling for pretty, white one, with a jade border, shell-pink flowers, and azure blue curls. _I suppose I will have to start learning all of this, won't I?_

"Next, we must polish the silverware until it gleams!" I have no idea why Sebastian said I should _help_ him since all I did was stand there and watch him work with a bit of awe, as well as put the knives and forks in their proper places. "Thalia, you haven't arranged the silverware properly."

"Yes, well..." _It's not like I've ever done this before!_ Before I could complete my sentence, however, a loud shriek arose from somewhere in the mansion. I blinked and lowered the fork in my hand. "Is that…Mey-Rin?" _What broke?_

Sebastian sighed, probably thinking something along the same lines as I was, and turned to go check what was wrong. I followed behind him, curious about the scream. Fortunately, the laundry room wasn't that far from the kitchen. "Mey-Rin?" The butler pushed the door open. "What's wro-?"

The first thing I perceived, before I even got a look as to the interior of the room, was that the air smelled strongly of washing powder. When I did manage to peer past Sebastian and into the room, all I could see were bubbles. Just a giant mass of bubbles rising from the ground in a foaming mass. My forehead scrunched up faintly in confusion. "How...?"

A head covered in bubbles popped out from the fluffy white mass. "Sebastian, Thalia!"

"How...?" I cocked my head to the side. "What happened?" _Why is this room filled with bubbles?_

She waded her way through the flood and began to babble wildly. "I don't know what happened!" She wailed. "I used thirty cups of detergent, just like the instructions said, and now the bubbles are out of control, yes! I don't understand!"

_Thirty?_ "Look again closely," Sebastian sighed. "It says three cups, not thirty."

Mey-Rin gasped and began babbling apologies. I stared at her with a mix of pity and amusement. _You need new glasses._

"Honestly, far-sightedness isn't a sufficient enough to excuse what a fool – no," Sebastian exhaled a longsuffering breath, and began unbuttoning his cuffs to roll up his sleeves. "Rather, what a _scatterbrain_ you are." _Nice rephrasing._ "I suppose there's no help for it then. Stand back!"

In a flash, he had mopped up all the soap bubbles, washed up all the sheets, and hung them outside, much to Mey-Rin's lovestruck amazement and awe. _If only you knew. _Sebastian could do far more amazing things.

_She really shouldn't look so impressed, _I rolled my eyes internally. _It just makes his ego swell. _"That should do it," Sebastian turned to her. "You clean up the laundry room, please." Mey-Rin saluted hurriedly and jogged back into the house. "Honestly, it's always when I'm busy."

My back made some interesting cracks when I stretched, and then twisted around to stare at the trees and bushes in the distance. _Everyone has such bad timing. _"Oh look," I blinked. "It's Morgan." Seeing the large mother cat without her baby was rare. Minthe must have given her the slip. "I'll go get her!"

His forehead furrowed slightly. "Are you sure?"

I waved a hand airily in his direction and started moving in the direction of the woods. "I'll be fine." _Of course I will be._ The kitten curled into my arms and mewled as I eyed the men surrounding me. "Guests?" I frowned. "At this time? And we're not even done preparing."

They looked startled by my sudden appearance, but they recovered quickly. Unfortunately, not quickly enough. Guns were great, but they were pretty useless if you couldn't fire them. I dropped the cat and darted forward, fingers already out. _Arm, solar plexus, neck, jugular, groin, medulla…_

In a few moments, they all lay on the ground, either unconscious or mostly paralyzed. I grabbed one of the more conscious ones by the back of his neck and yanked his head up so I could see his eyes. "Who do you work for and what are his plans?"

He hissed and snarled at me. "I'm not telling you that, you freak!"

I pouted. "Freak?" I repeated. "Now that's just mean. How about I convince you?" In a second, I had the razor sharp blade of a knife pressed against his throat, just hard enough to draw a bit of blood. "Now, _tell me everything_."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian looked up when I returned. "That shouldn't haven't so long," he commented.

"Really?" I shifted Morgan so she would stop hooking her claws into my sleeve. "Well I also picked some flowers," I held up a bunch of white flowers in my free hand. "Pretty, right? We can always just put them somewhere."

He plucked the blossoms out of my hand and scratched Morgan under the chin, eliciting a purr from the feline. "I'll use it in the flower arrangement," he suddenly took a step closer to me and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "Well done, my darling."

_What the-?! _My face flamed and I backed away from him hurriedly. "_Don't do that!_"

"You're right," he nodded thoughtfully, his hand at his chin. "I missed. I should have aimed for your lips instead. Come here."

"_No!_"

After more yelling, and then a reminder that we still weren't done preparing for the evening, Sebastian finally backed off and I exhaled a sigh of relief. He did use the flowers I'd picked – which he told me were snowdrops – In the central flower arrangement, along with some pretty white roses.

As he was showing me how to fold the napkins into rose shapes, another loud screech rose up from somewhere else in the manor, but it sounded further away. "That's Finny," I murmured. A few moments later, we were both standing in front of the recently constructed greenhouse. "Finny?"

Sebastian pushed the glass door open and a wave of damp heat rushed out and hit us, along with loud cries. "Why is it so hot in here?!" Sebastian yelled. The flowers were clearly suffering from the high temperature. They were drooping and beginning to darken.

"Wah!" Finny launched himself onto me, still crying. "I'm sorry! It looked like the roses were going to bloom, so I tried to speed them up by lighting the stove!"

…_that logic is so flawed._ Still, I patted him on the head because he looked genuinely upset and he was still cute. Sebastian sighed loudly. "To carry a stove out here you would have to be brainless-" I shot him a glare and he backtracked. "Or rather, _brawny._ It can't be helped then."

He carried the stove out, followed by the flowerpots full of the wilting roses. I clicked my tongue. "It's a pity," I said. "The roses would have smelled so nice. Still, these things happen." They didn't, but I didn't want to make Finny feel any worse. "If you like, I'll stay and help you clean up as much as I can."

"Hurry up then," Sebastian walked off, and I could hear him muttering under his breath. "Honestly, what a pain..."

After opening the glass windows and shutters in the greenhouse, most of the humid air had been replaced with cool, dryer air from outside. I wiped a drop of sweat from my forehead and surveyed the greenhouse. It was looking much cleaner, so I turned to the gardener with a smile. "I should get back to the kitchen. Will you be alright by yourself?"

Finny beamed at me and nodded. "Yes! Thank you, Thalia!"

When I got back, Sebastian was sprinkling pepper onto something that looked like chicken. This was only strange because we didn't _have _chickens, or anything remotely avian. "Sebastian, where did the bird come from?"

"Ah," he smiled as he placed one of the pieces in the pan to cook. "I accidentally skewered it earlier, and decided not to let it go to waste. Also, Thalia, could you bring up more tableware?"

_Why do you keep using the silverware to kill people?_ I wondered as I went to do as he had asked. _Why can't you use actual knives, or something? _"Here we go…" My voice tailed off and I blinked at the sight in front of me, and then I sighed. "Bard, why is there a hole in the kitchen wall?"

"Might as well explain yourself," Sebastian looked resigned.

In spite of the expression on Sebastian's face, Bard kept smiling anyway. "I figured, since guests were comin', I'd treat them to a new menu…"

"How many times must I tell you that cooking doesn't require _actual _firepower?" Sebastian's hand went to his forehead. "You're a colossal fool. Or, rather, a fool." I sweatdropped. _You didn't really rephrase that. _Red eyes stared up at the large hole and the trees in the distance. "Again?"

I was put in charge of watching the pheasant (it wasn't chicken after all) cook while Sebastian scolded Bard outside, and confiscated his flamethrower. Of course, this just meant that I poked through the kitchen cabinets like a five-year-old child and tasted everything I could now that Sebastian wasn't there to scold me.

When the butler eventually returned, it was with a flamethrower, and a basket of chestnuts. "What do you plan on using those for?"

"The dessert," he replied simply. "For goodness's sake, I'm getting nothing done."

"Yes," I nodded. "Today has been unusually counterproductive, hasn't it? Well," I shrugged and got to my feet. "Since I'm no help here, I think I'm going to go keep Ciel company."

To be honest, I had steadily been avoiding Ciel ever since I'd dropped the whole _I-might-be-your-cousin-maybe-it's-about-95%-certain-so-yes-it's-probably-really-likely_ bombshell on him. A part of me was terrified that he no longer liked me, or that he might think I was some sort of gold-digger here to scheme my way into the Phantomhive fortune (if so, I was the worst schemer ever).

That was also why I had started acting so deferential towards him.

In a way, I didn't regret running away. If I hadn't, I would never have found out the things I had. Running away put things in perspective for me, and gave me a form of closure that I never knew I needed. Besides, I couldn't excuse what Ciel had done. I might be a servant, but I wasn't a slave.

I knocked on the door of Ciel's study and waited for him to tell me to come in before I did. "Good afternoon, young master."

The young boy watched me for a moment, and then scoffed lightly and leaned back in his chair. "You look so awkward," he commented drily. "You are clearly unused to behaving this way, aren't you?"

_Of course I am!_ "Still, you are my young master, aren't you?" He was right; this was awkward. I wasn't used to this standing on the other side of the room instead of bounding forward happily, this strained, polite manner instead of my usual brashness. "I was wondering if you would care to-!"

"Stop it." _What?_ Ciel rested his cheek against his fist and stared at me darkly out of his uncovered eye. "I don't care for this sort of attitude from you. It's strange and frankly annoying."

I stared at the earl silently. Basically, in his normal, rude and arrogant way, he had more or less confessed that he liked it better when I didn't avoid him so much, and acted in my normal manner around him.

"Also…" I came back to reality when he spoke again. "That sort of behaviour is unnecessary for someone who is expected to be a relation. Don't make me tell you this again."

…_he has such a terrible personality but I still love him. _"Ciel!" I flew across the room and hugged him tightly. "I love you!"

"_Would you stop that?!_"

* * *

oOo

* * *

Ciel and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading books, newspaper articles and random magazines. I even showed him one of my favourites: a story from a magazine by a man named Arthur Conan Doyle. _A Study in Scarlet, _not only was the title intriguing, but the story also featured a character that I quite liked, and Ciel seemed to share my sentiments.

"It isn't that popular though," I told him with a regretful sigh. "I think it's because the character is one a lot of people haven't seen before. You'd think people would be excited about that though."

"People are so ready to write off and disregard what they don't understand," he nodded in agreement.

Evening came, and then Sebastian instructed me to go have a bath and change my clothes because the guests would arrive any time from now. When I first arrived, I had wondered why I had received so many uniforms even though most of them looked almost exactly the same. Now I knew why.

By the time I slipped downstairs, Sebastian was just opening the door. The first guest was one I had never seen before. He had dark brown hair that was combed back rather nicely, and hazel eyes. He was American, or so Sebastian had told me.

The next guest was one I _had_ seen before. "Ah, Miss. Maid, how are you?" Lau smiled at me. "I haven't seen you since you came to visit! Have you used my gift at all since Christmas?"

_Shit, I can't kill him since there are witnesses. _"The young master will be down shortly," Sebastian said, sensing my growing urge to murder the Chinese man in front of me. "Do come in." I shut the door behind us, and went to stand beside Sebastian.

A few moments later, Ciel appeared at the top of the stairs. "Thank you for coming today," he smiled genially. "I am Ciel Phantomhive, the current earl."

The strange man raised his hand to his chest in greeting. "And I am Cedric Brandel," he introduced himself. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I must admit," he smiled as he shook Ciel's hand. "I never imagined that you were so young, my lord."

Lau waved a hand cheerily. "I told you, no need to get worked up," he smiled. "He's so small and cute!" Ciel clearly was not pleased by that statement, and neither was i. This was not because I didn't _agree_ with the words, but more because I really just didn't like Lau and so I was annoyed by nearly everything that came out of his mouth.

_But he did help you find out who Madame Red was,_ I sighed internally. _Even though he didn't do much, I suppose I should try to be a bit more accommodating. _I still disliked him though. "I've had dinner prepared for us," Ciel decided to ignore the man's remark. "Please, this way."

As part of the dinner preparations, Sebastian had set up a pyramid of glasses. The man in question then poured the champagne (and I really cannot tell when he disappeared to fetch it) into the glasses, letting it overflow into the next, and into the next, and so on, until it was a dazzling champagne fountain. _Pretty…_

The guests seemed to share my sentiments exactly. "I thought simply setting out aperitifs lacked flair," the earl explained, looking just a tiny bit smug. _Pretty…_

There was a door in the dining room that led to the kitchen. That door opened and Mey-Rin stepped in. She was shaking hard enough to rattle the plate in her hands. "Good evening, yes!" She squeaked. "Here are some hors d'oeuvres!" I tore my gaze away from the dazzling, golden brilliance to watch her.

What happened next, I'm not sure what exactly occurred. Mey-Rin suddenly _tripped_ on something, and pitched forward. The tray of starters flew from her hands and crashed into the champagne pyramid, sending the glasses flying.

Like I said, I'm not exactly sure what happened, but my assumption is that Sebastian used his magical, demon speed to seize all the glasses in mid-air, catch every drop of champagne before it could hit the ground, and then rearrange all the glasses in two thinner but identical pyramids.

Oh, and he also managed to catch the plate of hors d'oeuvres as well. I blinked once, twice, and then let my eyebrows furrow. _…the hell?_

I wasn't the only confused person in the room. "What just happened?" Brandel blinked several times. The air felt sparkly, like very tiny raindrops hitting me. It was an oddly refreshing feeling.

"Pardon me," Sebastian straightened and smiled as though what he had done was perfectly normal. "This brand is a bit on the bubby side so we've given it a nice decanting. Please have a seat, and I'll bring it to you. Thalia?" I shot Mey-Rin a comforting glance, and then went over to begin serving out the drinks.

One of the annoying things about being a servant is that you have to stand there and watch other people eat food, and then you are only allowed to eat after. Do you understand how torturous it is to watch others eat and be hungry? Sebastian didn't get it, being a demon and all. Besides, his hunger was brought upon by himself.

"My lord, your home provides no end of surprises," Brandel complimented. "Everything is so beautiful I can hardly believe it was ash just three years ago."

I stared at the man out of barely narrowed eyes. _Why did you have to bring that up? _"This makes for dull dinner conversation," Ciel replied curtly. "Let's get down to business."

Brandel paused, and then tried for a smile. "I'd like my new company to market to children for sustained profitability," he explained. My attention was diverted to an image of Lau feeding Ran-Mao something off his plate, which was sort of cute but that still didn't make him any less annoying. "…I'd like to work with you."

Ciel nodded knowingly. "Ah yes. After all, children are better judges of both art and food than most adults realise."

"Seeing you makes me even more certain of it, my lord," Brandel said. "It must be the secret to your company's success in that market!"

"Oh?" Ciel lowered his utensils and stared at the man. "Are you implying that I'm a child and that's why my company succeeds?"

I had to admit, it was rather amusing watching him squirm. Like most adults, he wasn't sure how to handle Ciel, and so he just settled for disliking him (although that might have also been something else).

The young earl smiled after a moment and went back to eating. "Relax, I'm only joking."

Brandel looked shocked, and then he began to laugh loudly and nervously. "Ah, you're a wicked one my lord!" He resumed his meal, but with much less verve than before. For some reason, his eyes kept darting to the clock on the mantelpiece. "Excuse me, my lord," he dabbed at his mouth and got to his feet. "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

"Oh, then I might as well follow you," Lau got to his feet as well, along with Ran-Mao. Normally, I would have commented on how the doll-like girl really couldn't follow him into the bathroom, but I didn't.

The second the door shut, I glanced at the clock on the mantel. "Twenty minutes to eight," I noted. Eight was when they planned to kill Ciel. Sometimes I was annoyed by how much people underestimated Ciel simply because he was a child, and other times I found it hilarious because the look in their eyes when they realised that he wasn't _just_ _any_ child was funny.

"Honestly," the young earl sighed and took one last bite of his food. "People simply don't learn." I reached over to begin tidying up his place, and Brandel's plate as well. Sebastian moved to the door, probably he had used his amazing sensory skills to discern the man's footsteps, and held it open.

"Oh, what happened to Mr. Lau?" He asked, like he didn't know the man had skipped out on dessert to avoid the obvious ensuing bloodshed. Brandel gave an excuse, probably the excuse Lau had given him.

Ciel leaned back in his chair with an irritated grunt. "As usual he has no consideration."

"What a pity," Sebastian pulled out a chair for the American. "We have a sweet to suggest for your tea salon." As he spoke, I wheeled the tray with the sweet in and parked it beside him. Even though he was planning to kill us, I saw the way Brandel watched me with eyes that held a bit more than simple appreciation.

_Is this a thing with all the people Ciel knows? _"Ah, now I'm curious!" _Two more minutes_. I caught the smirk on his face before he quickly hid it when Sebastian approached again.

The dessert was a small round cake with an intricate leaf and flower design on the top. Around it was a crown made of stiff gold paper. "A _galette de rois_," Sebastian put a name to the cake. "It's conventional, but we've done it up with a thick _crème de marron_ to go with your flavoured tea."

He then explained the game behind the dessert: according to tradition, one slice of the cake contained a doll known as _la fève_, and whoever received the slice with the doll would receive the paper crown, as well as god's blessing.

I spooned a dab of the cream onto a slice and placed it in front of Ciel, and then repeated the same with Brandel's plate. "Just the thing for children," the young earl smirked. "Who love games of chance like dice, or drawing straws." _Adults like those sort of things as well._ It was amazing how eager so many people were to bet everything on simple games of probability.

"I see," Brandel suddenly smirked. "A sweet with a game? Brats sure do think up things no grown up would."

With that, all his earlier pretence of politeness and cordiality disappeared. Ciel eyes narrowed. "What did you say?" My eyes went to the clock on the mantelpiece. _30 seconds. _

The plates and silverware on the table clattered noisily when Brandel got to his feet. "_Queen's Guard Dog_ or not, you're just a brat trying to show off!" He yelled. "The two things I hate the most are cocky brats, and bets that don't make money!" _20 seconds. _"Drop dead, guard dog!" With that, he dived under the table.

_He's ten seconds early._ I could only assume that the sheer excitement of the moment had gotten to him. A moment later, the bell chimed for real, and the man climbed out from under the table. The look on his face when he saw the three of us still standing was rather funny, but I forced my expression into one of curiousity and mild concern.

"Mr. Brandel, did you drop something by any chance?" I wondered, hiding my amusement behind a worried frown.

Ciel chuckled and took a bite of his own slice. _"_I do believe you are drunk," he smiled kindly (which looked realistic enough, but also seemed mocking to someone like me who knew him well enough). "Please, have some of this, and no more alcohol."

Sebastian pulled out the chair for him, and I could see the way the man's fingers trembled when he lifted the fork to his mouth. He chewed, chewed, and then froze when something crunched in his mouth. "Oh?" I smiled at Brandel cheerily. "Congratulations, it seems you have found _la fève_."

The bullet flew from his lips when he spat it between his fingers, and clattered onto his plate. "Your friends left this behind, so we'll return it to you." Brandel backed up quickly as the colour drained from his face. "They arrived quite a while before you did, so we've already given them a _warm _Phantomhive welcome."

_By that we mean they're either dead or unconscious. If this is our hospitality, I never want to see what we do to people we genuinely dislike._

Brandel took a step back, and then another. "Th-That's impossible!" He yelled. "There were more than fifty of them! Y-you fought them _alone?_" His eyes darted between Sebastian and me in horrified disbelief.

I smiled, mimicking Sebastian's cheery, close-eyed expression. "We're very good at what we do."

"Lau told me you were dealing weapons on the black market," Ciel reclined back in his chair in an almost bored manner.

Brandel jerked and snarled angrily. "That bastard!" He seethed. "He sold me out?"

"Sold you out? Don't be so foolish. He was never on your side to begin with," Ciel replied coldly. "Her majesty is very distressed by the spread of gun-related crime among the underclass society," he raised his teacup to his lips and then frowned. "Sebastian, make a new pot of tea!" He ordered. "These low grade tea leaves smell foul."

Sebastian straightened and nodded. "Certainly," he moved away from the man's side. I picked up the paper crown and stepped back when Brandel suddenly knocked his chair backwards, and whipped a gun out from somewhere in his jacket.

He wasn't facing me when he screamed: "_Die!_" and fired three shots in Ciel's direction.

Instinct told me to jump forward and dislocate his shoulder from behind, but then reason told me that he would be fine. "This won't do," Sebastian commented with a dark sort of smile. There were three bullets between his fingers with smoke curling off them. "I just gave you back your belongings, and you've already lost more."

The bullets clattered to the tiled floor, and Brandel took a stunned step backwards. Sebastian followed, still smiling. "Wh-What is this?" The American stammered. "How…?"

"I simply cannot be killed by such toys, I'm afraid," Sebastian explained. To prove his point, he kept moving forward, seemingly disregarding every bullet that was fired at him. "Come, put that away," he tapped the barrel of the gun with a finger, and the metal exploded backwards.

Gunpowder exploded, and pieces of shrapnel pierced the doomed man's fingers. The weapon fell to the ground as he reeled back from the pain. "_Argh!_" He screamed, clutching his blackened and bloody hand with his other. _Darn, _I leaned against the door with my arms behind my back. _Now there's blood all over the carpet, and guess who's going to have to clean it up._

Pained screams and gasps came from his mouth as he tried to scramble away, but I was standing in front of the door. He backed away from me and I leaned forward. "Sir, you forgot something," I reached down and placed the crown that I had been holding on his head. "It's yours after all."

He stumbled backwards, eyes wide and terrified. "Monster!"

_How rude. _I shook my head, still smiling. "If you're looking for the monster, then it's _right behind you_."

Darkness descended on the room as all the candles flickered and went out at the same time. A dark presence rose in the air, a feeling like something out of nightmare. Sebastian's eyes began to glow with energy as he pulled off his glove. At the same time, Ciel reached up to pull his eye-patch away. "Brandel, do you know why no one knows the punishment the Guard Dog inflicts?" I closed my eyes as the darkness continued to rise. "It's because _dead men tell no tales._"

* * *

oOo

* * *

"_Ow!_" I hissed and just barely kept myself from kicking Sebastian in the face. "Can't you be a bit more gentle?"

The hand cradling my leg lifted it higher. Sebastian sighed and dabbed the wound on my leg with the disinfectant-soaked cloth in his hand. "You should have told me about this earlier, Thalia," he replied. "I could have taken care of this quite a while ago."

I frowned and turned away huffily. "What's the point? I've gotten far worse than that and I'm still fine, aren't I?" It was just a small cut, not an amputation. It had already begun to scab over anyway. What he was doing was completely unnecessary.

We were in my room, sitting on my bed after Sebastian had spotted an injury on my leg that I had sustained from my earlier scuffle in the woods. I don't know how I managed to reopen the wound, but I did. Also, I did not know this, but Sebastian could smell blood, which was why he had grabbed me on my way to bed and demanded he clean up the wound.

My leg was on Sebastian's lap and he was cleaning the area around the injury with some antiseptic. His fingers gentled when I complained, and I murmured out a quiet thanks when he finished and bandaged up the wound with some gauze. "It stings like hell though," I muttered.

"I'm sorry," Sebastian smiled. "Shall I kiss it better, my lady?"

"No thanks," I snapped out immediately. "That is completely unnecessary. You can go now."

Suddenly he yanked on my ankle, pulling me closer until I was nearly entirely on his lap. An arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me even closer. Not for the first time, I was made aware of how small and fragile I actually was compared to him. "I love it when you act so defiant," he murmured hotly into my ear. My eyes widened at his words, and his tone, and also at the hand that was steadily working its way up the skin of my leg to my thigh.

I grabbed the hand to stop its ascent. "Sebastian-!"

His fingers spread and tightened, yanking me even closer until I was almost straddling his waist. The look in his eyes was one of a predator staring at its prey. He looked ready to devour me, and I could feel myself responding to him.

_I really need to think before I do things_. I tried to slap at the hand trailing its way over my legs, only for him to grab my wrists in one hand and pin them to his chest. Not for the first time, I was reminded of how much larger and stronger he was compared to me. On one hand, this made me feel rather scared. On the other, I felt (and this was mortifying) _excited._ There was something arousing about being in the arms of someone so powerful and so...virile.

_And I will never say that aloud, ever. _"Sebastian!"

"Hmm?" His fingers paused a few centimetres above my knee, and a memory struck me, of the moment he had cornered me in my room. My face flamed red._ Why am I remembering that again?!_ I had chalked that episode up to a moment of weakness. "Oh my, it seems you're thinking of something interesting," he released my leg in favour of my chin. "What is it, my dear?"

There was absolutely nothing I could say. There was no way in _hell_ (no pun intended) that I was going to reveal to the man who currently had me on his _lap_ that I was thinking about the time he had shoved me against the wall of my room and done some pretty embarrassing things to me. My life didn't need that sort of horror.

The man in question made an amused sound, and drew a thumb across my bottom lip. "You're not going to tell me?" He wondered. "Then it _must_ be interesting. _Mm_, I never knew you had such _delicious_ thoughts…"

_We're not doing this! _Sebastian didn't stop me when I wormed myself out of his arms and scrambled as far away from him as I could on the bed. "I'm not thinking of anything like that, you pervert!" I grabbed my teddy bear, the one Sebastian had gotten for me at the Ice Fair last year, and held it to my chest like some sort of shield. "I'm not thinking of anything weird!"

He arched an eyebrow and his smirk widened. "Are you sure?" He asked tauntingly, and then he chuckled when I growled at him. The growling stopped and I eyed him warily when he got off my bed and turned to me. "You should get some sleep."

It was getting rather late, and I nodded in agreement. "Alright. Thanks for cleaning my wound, at any ra-!"

My words were cut off by a mouth suddenly covering mine briefly. Teeth that were just a bit sharper than normal bit down gently on my bottom lip and drew it out. A tongue lapped at my mouth, and then Sebastian's lips were suddenly at my ear. "Sleep well, _Thalia_."

In the next second, my room was empty. I stared vacantly at the wall, eyes wide, mouth tingling, and I don't think my brain had caught up with the events.

…_why am I affiliated with such a person?!_

**Two more filler chapters to go! Also, I got a review that my Ciel was a bit warmer and less distrustful. I just feel that Ciel would be a bit less cold to someone who was family. I mean, he treats Elizabeth pretty well. Thalia had more or less attached herself to his side as someone who would stay by him and protect him, even if she got nothing out of it. **

**Please read and review!**


	36. Playing Dress Up

**This ended up shorter than I wanted it to be. I'm not talking about length, but there was **_**so**_** much I wanted to type, but my brain refused to let me write everything I wanted properly. Every time I typed something, I got annoyed with it because **_**it wasn't flowing right and dammit brain why are you doing this to me?!**_

**Personally, I think I'm just too excited about the following arc to focus right. I don't own Kuroshitsuji!**

**Playing Dress Up**

The day after the dinner party, I had noticed that I was running low on knives. Because my knives were small and light, I mostly used them as throwing knives. This had the unfortunate price of making them very easy to lose once used. At the moment, I was down to my last ten.

I broached the topic with Ciel over breakfast, and he agreed to let me buy new knives, only with the condition that Sebastian accompanied me. I had complained, but then he'd pointed out that it wasn't right for a lady to wander around without an escort. I'd then snorted, and muttered something about not being a _lady_, but he'd been adamant, and I really did need those knives.

All in all, it had been an awful 2 hours, especially when I needed to be fitted for a holster to keep my new blades in. He did his best to get in as much touching as he possibly could.

After that, Ciel called over a tailor to work on my dresses so that it would be easy for me to grab my weapons when needed. The tailor however, turned out to be an extremely touchy-feely woman named Ms. Nina with a creepy and fixed interest in women and boys under the age of 15.

Still, all random groping and fondling aside, she did do a wonderful job. I'm not exactly sure how or where she put all the slits and tucks and whatnot, but they were there and arranged perfectly so that I could access my knives easily, and yet the dress still disguised their presence.

As for my knives, I got quite an assortment: I got several small ones that were specifically for throwing, a few slightly longer ones that I kept in my boots, and finally, two twin long ones with blades that were about thirteen inches long. I figured I could use them like swords, but not quite. Ciel even allowed me to get them monogrammed with the image of the Phantomhive crest.

The day had dawned gloomy and foggy, which was doing wonders for my spirits. Pluto had taken to whining outside in the garden until I gone out and scratched him behind one of his ears and given him a kiss on the nose. He had promptly turned back into a human in a blazing whirlwind of fire (chasing away some of the fog) and nuzzled me until Sebastian came to drag me away.

Speaking of Sebastian, he had become far more possessive of me ever since I ran away. I don't think he thought I would try it again, but it seemed like he had upped his supposed stake on me now that I knew what he was to me, and what I was to him.

_A Mate._ I didn't want to ask him what that was exactly, since I was pretty sure he'd explain it to me in the more...physical way, which was why I was sitting on the roof of the mansion with a few books that I had borrowed from Ciel's library. Why the roof, you ask? Well, I have always held a strong belief in things being so much better from higher up. From a high vantage point you are well above everyone else, you can see further than those below.

Also, it was fun. It was brighter, since the fog was heavier below, and I could feel a few warm rays of sunlight breaking through the grey-blue London skies. It was likely that the weather would clear up later in the afternoon.

The young master was the sort of person who liked to know exactly what he was dealing with, so he could always be sure of his next course of action. Therefore, as expected, he had quite a few books on demons littering the shelves of his library. I had been flipping through them quietly, occasionally reaching up to brush my hair back from my face.

Most of the books told me a lot of what I already knew, and some were clearly false and made up. Still, I couldn't find anything on Mates until I reached the last book. It was a thick volume, and looked a bit older than the other books, with an odd pattern on the hardcover front. The chapter I was looking for came a little way before the halfway point in the book, and I flipped to the beginning to read.

_Demons are creatures of sin and fear. No matter what human form they take, they tend to be more animalistic than human. While having an intellect beyond any normal human's, they tend to run more with instinct when threatened or aroused. Therefore, each demon has a Mate._

_A Mate is a person that is bound to the demon. They are the only one capable of controlling and calming the emotions of the demon, and effectively preventing it from doing something that could be detrimental to itself or those around it. All Mates bear the mark of their demon on a part of their body, and it is usually the weaker or less dominant Mate that bears the insignia._

I stopped reading for a moment. Sebastian had told me all of that, so none of it was new whatsoever. However, I'd had no idea that I could do anything of the sort regarding Sebastian's emotions. I went back to the manuscript.

_Mates are often incapable of hurting one another physically, as the pain caused by inflicting pain on the other has been known to drive the demon insane from guilt. If a Mate dies, the other will also most likely go insane from grief and rage. Some have even killed themselves in their grief. _

_Interestingly, Mates do not have to claim each other. Since both have free will, they may both simply opt to ignore the bond. However this is rare, as demons are highly possessive creatures, and the males are incredibly virile. Even if they do not care for the Mate entirely, they will be able to give he, or she, unbelievable pleasure._

My face flamed and I slammed the book shut, screaming internally. _Who wrote this book?! Why would you write that?_ Never mind that it was probably true, but I really didn't want to read that. I didn't need to know any of that! Sebastian had made all of it pretty clear anyway.

I got to my feet and tucked the books into my apron pocket, and then I made my way back into the house by scaling a few feet down the wall of the mansion, and then swinging myself inside through an open window, where I found myself in Sebastian's arms.

"My, and to think was just about to come after you," he pulled me closer.

I squeaked and shoved him away, only he didn't move so I ended up shoving myself away, but semantics. "Sebastian!" He smiled down at me, probably enjoying the flustered expression on my face. I promptly scowled and folded my arms across my chest. "What do you want? Were you looking for me?"

My eyes fell on the brightly coloured parcel in his arms. "This came for you," he replied, handing it to me. "I believe it is from Ms. Nina." I arched an eyebrow and accepted it, and then blinked when Sebastian turned and left to do whatever it was he was going to do.

"Huh," I frowned wonderingly and cradled the package in the crook of my arm. With my other hand, I flicked out the paper tacked to the wrapping paper. From the shape and feel, I could tell that it was an outfit. _That's odd,_ I frowned. _I thought I'd gotten everything she made for me._ My eyes scanned over the penned words with curiosity.

_Dear Thalia, you were an excellent customer. Since you are new, you can consider this to be a little gift (and if you could model it for me, then that would be fantastic). – Ms. Nina_

Since I obviously couldn't open it up in the middle of the hallway, I made my way to my room for some privacy. While walking, I picked at the knot tying the whole thing together, before getting annoyed and opting to cut it open. "Oh wow..." I gaped in stunned surprise. The fabric of the dress was a velvety, deep, dark red. I ran my fingers over the material, feeling it slip against my fingers.

It was clearly a party dress, and while I was unsure as to where I would wear something so pretty, especially since I was still a servant, it was still nice to have it. I'd keep it for the same reason I kept Lau's dress and present, only I was actually happy to have this one.

"It's so pretty and...what the heck?" I lifted the dress to reveal the slit at the side. _Ah well, that's the fashion isn't it?_ I fingered the dress, eying the neckline curiously. There were no sleeves that I could see, and it looked like it would be pretty revealing. "I might as well try it on," I thought aloud. "It's not like I'll ever wear it again, and it's always good to break in new clothes."

Speaking of which, had I even tried on Lau's Chinese dress? I didn't think so, I'd been so embarrassed about it that I'd shoved it to the back of my wardrobe and forgotten about it. Same went for the negligee, only I'd treated it a bit more courteously, given the delicateness of the fabric. _I'll try this one on first..._

It was...unbelievably tight. Not _tight_ in that I felt like I couldn't move and that if I took a single step the entire dress would rip, but tight in that it lay almost flat against my torso and waist. If not for the slit, I'm sure the dress would have moulded against my hips as well.

As for the slit, it was much higher than I'd expected. I'd thought it only came up to my knees, maybe an inch above. Instead, it stopped about six inches above my knees. _I feel so uncomfortable,_ I stared at myself in the mirror. Yet, I had to admit, I looked great. _I'm never wearing this in front of Sebastian._

Next, I tried on the Chinese dress. I'm still not sure how Lau had my size, but I wasn't about to go find him and ask. The dress was unbelievably short, stopping just below my butt, and the presence of the black thigh-high stockings didn't do much to make me feel any more covered. Nevertheless, the dress had the advantage of being easy to move in. The long skirt of my maid uniform sometimes made things difficult, but the light fabrics and short length of the Chinese dress made it easy for me to manoeuvre around easily.

There were shoes with the dress, wooden-soled slippers with a slight heel and black ribbon ties that were supposed to be wrapped around my legs and tied a few inches below my knees. In the mirror, my reflection preened and fluffed at its hair. _I wish I hadn't cut it,_ I pouted, feeling the locks. It was only the sheer weight of my hair that had kept it looking straight, and now it fell about my face and down my shoulders in large curls.

I jerked when I heard the sound of someone knocking at my door, and then heard the voice of the worst possible person it could have been. "Thalia?" Sebastian called from the other side of the door. "You've been in there for quite a while. You have chores, do you not_?_"

_Ah frick, what do I do?!_ "Yes, I'm coming!" I quickly began unlacing and pulling off the slippers, hopping around the room clumsily. Unfortunately, wood on wood makes quite a lot of noise, and I had to stop hopping and just balance in one spot. "Just give me a minute!" I got one leg off, and sat on my bed to pull off the other.

"You're making quite a bit of noise, my dear," he asked through the door. "Is something wrong?" The door-handle moved, and I panicked. _Shit, I didn't even lock the door!_ "Should I come in?"

"No, no, don't do that!" I yelled, wrestling with my left stocking. Dammit, why were these things suddenly so difficult to remove? They hadn't been so awkward when I was putting them on! Perhaps it was because I was in a rush. "I'll be out soon!" I got to my feet and grabbed the uniform I'd been wearing earlier.

_Maybe I should just wear it over the dress. _I got to my feet, one hand clutching the newly removed stocking, only to yelp in pain when I felt my foot land on the heel of the slipper. _Ow!_ I sat back down and crossed a leg over the other, bringing it up so I could study any forming bruises. I probably wouldn't have voiced my pain so loudly if I'd realised what happened next.

"Thalia!" The door of my room flew open and I froze.

There are moments in life where suddenly, everything slows down, and a single second seems much longer, and you see things you might have missed. For example, I saw the way Sebastian's eyes widened, the emotion in them going from worry, to surprise, and then...something else. Something I was very familiar with.

He chuckled, shutting the door without taking his eyes off me. "My, my, is this what you've been doing?" His eyes lingered on chest, and then made their way to my thighs, especially the bare one. "Unfinished? Well now, that won't do..." I tried to back away when he came closer, but I didn't get far before a hand latched around my ankle and dragged me back to the edge of the bed. "What lovely skin," he knelt down, forcing me back to my original sitting position.

I frowned, trying to hold on to some semblance of dignity even in this incredibly mortifying scene. "Sebastian, I told you to wait! You didn't have to–" I choked when he suddenly forced my thighs apart and leaned closer. "_What are you doing?_"

Fingers trailed up from my bare ankle, over my shin. He massaged the skin of my thigh, before gripping tightly, so tightly that was sure I would have bruises of some sort. Oddly, I didn't mind that. I wanted them, wanted his hands to touch me. The thought made me shiver and bite back some pleasured noise. For crying out loud he had barely _done _anything and I was already putty! _I blame the dress. _"You aren't done, are you, my lady?" His tone was soft, sultry, and breathy. "Let me assist you then..."

I opened my mouth to yell and tell him to back away and leave me alone, but all of that was replaced by a whimper I couldn't bite back in time. I felt his lips curve against my neck and repeat the action, a soft nick at the junction of my neck, slightly higher this time. His hand occupied itself with my stocking-clad foot. He seemed to enjoy the act of peeling it away, sliding his fingers beneath the sheer black fabric and tugging down gently, inch by torturous inch.

"Beautiful," Sebastian hummed sensually against my skin. "I must admit, this is a lovely dress, darling. It certainly gives one...ideas..." I swallowed, and tried to find my voice when his fingers made it to my knees. He gripped the back of my thigh and pulled me flush against his body. "You are far too tempting, my darling," he told me, moving his head to lick at my bottom lip and mutter huskily against my ear. "I want to tie you up with the ribbons and take you as hard as I can in only those stockings."

_Holy shit. _I had to do something before things escalated further and he went ahead with his perverted fantasy. "H-Hey, Sebastian?" I forced my voice to be a bit louder, steadier. "Um...c-could you explain the whole Mate thing to me?"

He paused in his ministrations, and then he chuckled and licked at one of the marks he'd made earlier. "Why? I'm sure your book explained it to you, did it not?"

I flushed and squirmed timidly in my spot. "Uh...you...knew about that?" I asked meekly, and the redness spread when he only laughed more, effectively confirming my fears. "Well, I wanted to hear it from you," I mumbled.

A white-gloved thumb traced my bottom lip, pressing slightly against the centre. "Sweet," he murmured, and then he suddenly rose to his feet, settling down beside me on the bed. Just as I thought it was over, he yanked me onto his lap. "That book was right, for the most part," he spoke as though he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. Sebastian reached for my cheek with his other hand, caressing my face gently. "You are my Mate," his thumb brushed repeatedly over my cheekbone. "You are the only one I want."

"But," I forced my voice to be stronger, no matter how much I wanted to fall against him and let him do what he pleased with me. "You...you can ignore it, can't you?" At that, he frowned. The stroking motions stopped, and I hastened to clarify. "The book said that the bond could be ignored."

The demon stared down at me silently, and then he sighed. "Like I said," he pulled me closer and gathered me into his arms. "_For the most part._ The bond is not so easily ignored. It is extremely rare for a demon to ignore their Mate. Besides, as I'm sure you're aware, we _are_ extremely possessive creatures."

My breath hitched when he ran a hand up my back and gripped a handful of my hair, yanking it back sharply so he could look into my eyes. The move was rough, but not painful, it was to let me know who was in control.

His fingers cupped the back of my head, threading through the curls and tugging lightly whenever I tried to drop my gaze. "And I can give you pleasure," his voice lowered and became like the smoothest velvet. Dark, caressing, orgasmic. "I can take you apart, have you writhing in pleasure without even touching you. Your body is _mine_ to pleasure," his eyes never left mine. His expression was dark, liquid fire. "Do you understand?"

I nodded. What else could I do? Sebastian smiled and pressed a kiss to my forehead, murmuring a _good girl_ into my hair. _I probably love this man, and it terrifies me._

After a few seconds of silence, Sebastian ran a hand over my legs. "I cannot wait to taste you, my dear," he murmured into my hair, and then pulled back regretfully. "But you should probably change back now. I don't want anyone else seeing you like this."

**...so this filler ended up as a lime *facepalms and crawls away in shame*. I just had the idea of Thalia getting new clothes and knives, and then this happened. Please forgive me!**

**Still, considering the following arc and then next couple of chapters, they both really need to get in all the cuddles and shit they need. Please read and review! **


	37. The Start of the Night

**So much talk about a lemon. To be or not to be? Should I write a lemon, or should I not? The answer to that is that I'm 89% certain that I'll write one, but it will probably come later in the story. **

**At any rate, HERE WE ARE MY READERS! Behold: The Phantomhive Murders! I am so excited for this shit I was wriggling even as I typed. I hope you enjoy it! I did want to wait for the animated version, but since it's only two OVA episodes, I can only assume that it's not going to be totally comprehensive.  
**

**I do not own Black Butler in any form, other than the parts of this fanfiction which are clearly my own invention, and Thalia. **

**Start of the Night  
**

Spring that year started off relatively well, with the snow melting to usher in the flourishing green leaves and bright flowers. Unfortunately, after that one week of brightness and lush greenery, the skies began to darken and turn gloomy as though it was going to rain and storm, but it didn't.

In the dining room that morning, Sebastian poured Ciel a cup of freshly brewed tea to go with his breakfast and took a step back. "So?" Ciel glowered at the people across the table from him from over the steaming cup. "How long are you guys planning on staying here?"

At the far end of the table, Prince Soma pouted. Even with his growing maturity, he was still incredibly juvenile, and he'd wasted no time in attempting to monopolize Ciel's attention. Nonetheless, in spite of his childish demeanour, he was acting far better than he used to. "What's up with that?" Soma asked. "Even though I went through the trouble of staying here so I could spend the winter holidays with you!"

Ciel scoffed under his breath. "Don't just invent holidays," he snapped, and flipped through the newspaper I handed him at that moment. He paused at one of the articles, and I glanced down at it while I cleared his plates. _Diamond trader in South Africa SteigerRoze dies. _Why that would interest him, I wasn't sure.

Soma's voice rose again, distracting him from his reading. "I'm not leaving now!" He grinned widely. "Especially since I'm going to beat you at chess today!"

_Not likely. _Ciel rolled his eyes subtly and put his half-empty teacup down. "Sorry, but I've got work today," he snapped the newspaper shut and rose to his feet. "Let's go Sebastian, Thalia." I quickly swept the crumbs away from his place, leaving the tablecloth clean.

"That's what you said yesterday," Soma puffed up his cheeks like a five-year-old. "And you only played one game with me!"

"Then why don't you polish up your skills by solving some chess problems while I'm working?" Ciel called over his shoulder as he left the room. "That would significantly improve your chances of winning. You have too few counter-moves."

We left the prince to his declarations of victory. Sebastian followed Ciel to his study, while I wheeled the breakfast cart back to the kitchen. I could only see a small patch of dark grey from the small kitchen window. The sky looked even gloomier now. _It should just rain,_ I thought to myself as I washed the plates and dried them carefully. I didn't like this constant dismal atmosphere, it made me feel mildly depressed. _I can't wait to see sunshine and blue skies again._

The other servants seemed to share my sentiments. "I can't relax with this kind of weather," Mey-Rin mumbled when I stopped beside her. I hummed my agreement. "It'd be better if it didn't rain until the washing dried."

Bard grunted from where he was peeling some carrots. "Jeez, this country really only has stormy weather," he muttered. "If this kind of thing continues for too long, I'll get gloomy."

Suddenly, out of absolutely _nowhere, _the door of the kitchen broke open with a tremendous crash, sending bits of wood flying into the kitchen. _What the absolute-?! _"Excuse us!" A voice that was far too cheery for what had just occurred came. "We're coming in!" I tensed and glared when two men stepped inside. They were dressed finely, but their clothes were like that of butlers. The one in front grinned widely round the room. "Is Earl Phantomhive in?"

Bard and Mey-Rin glared at him suspiciously, ready to attack if the need arose. "Who the hell are you?" The chef snarled.

The smiling butler looked amused now, and he suddenly drew the sword at his side. "What?" He wondered. "Are you saying you'll play with _me?_" He suddenly swung the blade in a wide arc, forcing us to leap backwards to avoid being sliced in half.

He ducked backwards when two bullets flew past his face. Mey-Rin snarled at him, guns at the ready. You know, I had never noticed this before, but she had incredibly pretty eyes. Also, where did the guns come from? Did she carry them on her person, like me with my knives? That would be fantastic.

The butler whistled. "Whoo, double guns are so cool~!" Something told me he wasn't taking this seriously at all. "But," he suddenly ran at her, ducking all the bullets and making a slashing movement with his sword. To my shock, the guns suddenly fell apart. He had cut straight through the metal! "I win at close combat."

_If it's close combat you want,_ I flipped out my longest knives, one in each hand. _Then I'll be happy to oblige._ I used the flat of my blade to block his sword as it came down on Mey-Rin's chest. "_Leave her alone,_" I snarled at him, shoving him backwards and adopting a combative stance.

He grinned widely. "Ooh, you think you can fight me with daggers?" He rushed me, and I blocked the sword as it came towards me. His blade was longer, but it was more for stabbing than slicing. I ducked backwards and made a slashing motion, parrying his thrusts and avoiding his attacks. Our blades crossed again, and we were locked in a standstill. "You're pretty talented, aren't you~?" He cooed.

My eyes narrowed. "Drop dead."

"Feisty," he grinned. "And cute too. It's just," he gave a strong shove so that I was forced backwards. "Too bad!" My knives came up to block the attack, but if never came. Instead, his sword went right through a stacked tray of desserts and snacks. "What?"

Sebastian straightened and gestured to the tray with a polite, cordial smile, as though he _hadn't _dived into the middle of a dangerous fight involving swords and daggers. "It's a custard choux cream made from the eggs of our own Phantomhive territory's poultry." _The fuck? _"Please, take a bite."

"Sebastian, what the fuck?" I yelled at him, not bothering with manners anymore. "He tried to kill us! He doesn't deserve fancy desserts!"

The guy hummed after his bite. "So-so, I guess," he decided. "Kinda like the lowest passing mark?" He licked up the last of the custard and eyed the other snacks on the tray. "You got anything else?"

"_You don't fucking deserve it!_"

The other white-haired man, who I had mostly forgotten about in the whole fray, was carefully helping Mey-Rin to her feet and handing her her glasses, which must have fallen sometimes during the fight. I was certain that once she regained her sight properly she would fall about blushing. "Your maid's vocabulary is rather...unladylike, is it not?" He said.

I glared at him unapologetically and slipped my knives back into their place in my holsters (honestly, those things were a stroke of genius). "Then don't fucking blow up our door and try to kill us!" Wow I was swearing a lot more than normal. I suppose I was more frazzled than I thought. "At any rate," I placed a hand on my hip and eyed them with irritation. "Who are you people anyway?"

Sebastian tutted at me, although he didn't seem too annoyed about my constant swearing. "These two are..."

"Oh yeah," the shorter one grinned and sheathed his sword. "We haven't met you guys before. My name is Charles Grey."

"My name is Charles Phipps," the one that had called me out on my swearing introduced himself. He was taller, with shorter hair that was still the same shade of white as the other. He also seemed more serious, but as he hadn't stopped the first Charles, I did not like him. "We are codenamed Double Charles."

"We are Her Majesty the Queen's private secretarial officers and butlers," Grey smirked and bowed. _What happened to the other one? _Well, it wasn't like I wanted the one I'd seen to be there. I could still remember the uneasy feeling I'd gotten when I saw him at the curry contest. "Nice to meet you. Today, however," he whipped out a pure white envelope with a familiar red seal from his jacket. "We are the messengers delivering a letter to the earl."

I scowled and plucked the letter from his fingers, twitching when he winked at me. "And what was with the sudden attack?" I groused.

He just grinned cheerily. "A spot of exercise~!" _I do not like you._ "So, is the earl home?"

The earl was not overly pleased with their appearance, but he was good at pretending. He gazed at the wax seal, and then at the men seated on the couch opposite his own. I stood behind him, my expression mostly neutral, but definitely not welcoming.

"In accordance with the Queen's request," Phipps explained. "We would like for you to host a banquet and entertain a guest who is coming for a visit to England in two weeks time."

Ciel arched a sceptical brow. "Why me?" He asked. "I do not think the guest will be at ease if he is being entertained by someone like me, who has no acquaintance to him whatsoever."

"The person we'd like you to entertain is a certain German person. He also happens to be a distant relative of the Queen," Phipps expanded. "It is to be a sneak visit to England. He is interested in England's industry and popular literature. He also wishes to mingle with persons of profound scholarship." _Does he now?_ "The Funtom Company is one of England's businesses that is boasted of all over the world. With connections such as yours, you should be able to call forth some guests to please our visitor."

_True,_ I thought to myself, and then blinked when I noticed Grey watching me. _Why the fuck is this man staring at me? I do not like it._ He smirked and winked at me, and I resisted the urge I had to pour the cup of tea in his hand on his head. _Why is Sebastian not doing anything?_ His constant scaring off of any men that tried to flirt with me was the one thing he was useful for!

"Even so," Ciel put the envelope down and pushed it towards them. "Is it alright for the Queen to let _me_ entertain him?"

Finally Grey looked away from me and turned his smile on Ciel. "The Queen has been having some doubts about the earl since the report on _the incident_ the other day." At that, I froze. _Flames, so many flames. Blood and smoke._

I had not forgiven Ciel for what he had done, and I probably never would. Still, I had pushed the memory back and I didn't like to think on it.

"Don't you think there's a chance to restore your image with this mission? Then again," he leaned back against the couch in a manner that was far too casual. "This is really just a request from the Queen to the _noble_ earl, and not _the_ _watchdog._"

Phipps nodded. "_Noblesse oblige_," he agreed. "We would like you to think of it as an obligation as one of the ones who have it all."

There was silence for a moment while Ciel considered it. Finally he nodded and drew the letter towards himself. "I understand," he said. "I'll take it."

"By the way, since I'm the overseeing officer, it's okay if I get you to let me participate as well, right?" Grey looked far too jovial for the topic of conversation, and he cheered when Phipps agreed to his request. "Also," he leered at me again. "We just confirmed the safety of the mansion. It looks like you don't need an increase in security guards."

_Please stop staring at me._

"The mansion's security is flawless," Ciel said. "Still, it can't be helped that our risk factor will increase due to uninvited people."

Both men rose t their feet, and Phipps nodded politely. "Since it's settled then, we'll be taking our leave. You don't need to see us out."

"See you later, cutie~," Grey winked at me, and then he left.

I twitched and growled. "I do not like that guy," I grumbled. "Also, they broke our kitchen door. They broke our kitchen door and tried to kill me!" I pouted and glared at Sebastian."_Why the hell _did you give him a snack?!"

A second later, there was a small, puffy bit of pastry between my teeth. When I bit down, warm, gooey white chocolate oozed onto my tongue. I immediately calmed down and was nearly a second away from floating dreamily away. _Chocolate~ !_

Ciel stared at the door that they'd exited through, and then sighed. "Well then, Sebastian, prepare the invitations at once. And, after that," he made his way to the window to watch the butlers as they left the manor grounds. "Contact Lau and Undertaker as well."

_Yay, Undertaker!_ The silver-haired mortician was always fun, and I hadn't yet thanked him for helping me before. Sebastian bowed. "Yes, my lord."

* * *

oOo

* * *

The party wasn't to be held for another week, which gave everyone time to prepare for it in the necessary manner. Still, it was a bit annoying that the day of the ball was the day the heavens decided to open and rain down upon the earth in a torrent. "Ah, the rain came," Finny murmured quietly, gazing out through the kitchen window.

I sighed and shifted the bowl of freshly peeled carrots to my hip. Tanaka huffed out a laugh on the ground, still sipping his tea. "Well, at least it's finally raining," I said. "Maybe we'll finally have some clear skies after this." I'd noticed the cute flower patch on Finny's hat, which had been put there by the sterner Charles on the day of their visit. Due to that, my opinion of him had risen a bit.

What? It _was_ a cute design.

Steam rose from the pot that Bard was stirring, and the blonde turned to grin at us. "Isn't this because the young master is doing something unusual?" He asked cheekily. His words earned him a thwack upside the head, courtesy of me, and a sharp reprimand from Mey-Rin. "Alright, alright! You didn't have to hit me!"

"Then don't be rude," I retorted. "Honestly, I just hope this rain doesn't affect the party too badly."

Sebastian appeared in the kitchen doorway just as I finished my sentence and set the carrots down on the table. He clapped his hands together sharply, a move that sent the other three servants into order. "The party won't be cancelled because of the rain," he snapped. "So don't idle! It will be time to meet the guests soon."

_Really? _I glanced down at my stained apron and grimaced. _I'm not meeting anyone while I smell like diced carrots and mashed potatoes._ I had my pride.

The butler proceeded to give us further instructions. "When you are called into the dining hall, come out in order according to your position. Do _try_ not to mix anything up, alright?" There were choruses of affirmation. "Please wait in the entrance hall first while the guests are arriving. Until then, you may tidy yourselves up."

Before I joined the Phantomhives, the only affluent people I ever came into contact with were those whose pockets I chose to lighten on the streets. Even after joining Ciel, the young boy was the only rich person I was around often. Therefore, when I poked my head out from behind the wall to stare at the glittering, glamorous people Ciel had invited over, I couldn't help feeling impressed.

_Fancy..._ I eyed the people in the hall, my eyes stopping on a few of them that caught my attention. One was a man with black, slicked-back hair and a crafty expression. I can't say for sure what it was that attracted my gaze, maybe it was the deceitful gleam in his eyes, or maybe it was all the diamonds glittering on his fingers.

The second was a beautiful woman with long, light hair and eyes. She was dazzling and so, by extension, I had to notice her partner. He was also handsome, but she clearly stole the show.

The third person, however, was not dazzling or glamorous in the least. He looked rather out of place, actually. His suit was old, it was probably the only suit he owned, and his expression just screamed nervousness. It was clear he was wondering just why he was here, surrounded by all these people that he didn't fit in with. I was wondering the same thing as well. Who was this person, and why had Ciel invited him to a party that was supposedly only for _high society_ people?

"Thalia, what are you doing?" Bard yanked me backwards. "You're gonna get us in trouble with Sebastian!"

I waved a hand airily. "Sebastian won't get mad. Well," I considered my words. "He won't get mad at _me,_ at any rate." I'd just have to initiate something sexual and he'd forgive me and forget all about it. That was the good side. The bad side (depending on how you want to look at it) is that he'd probably throw me over his shoulder and then do unspeakable things to me.

_Huh, _In that case, it wasn't worth it.

"Actually, never mind. I'll stay put," I leaned against the wall, but kept an ear out for the conversations. Luckily, the man was standing close enough for me to hear whatever he said. There was a sound, like two people bumping into one another. "Oh, sor-!"

An unmistakable voice spoke up. "Ah, excuse me," Lau apologised cheerfully. "Ran-Mao, you shouldn't space out," he scolded lightly. "Where's your apology?" I couldn't help it, I peered out again, only to see the out of place man looking incredibly flustered. The reason for his state was rather obvious though.

Ran-Mao was dressed in a tight-fitting Chinese dress. Her breasts spilled out from the top, and the dress was slit at one side all the way up to her waist to reveal a black, lacy, stocking-clad leg in the highest heels I'd ever seen outside of a pinup.

The whole outfit was completed with a feather boa tossed over one shoulder, and wound over her other arm. _Ah, no wonder he looks so freaked out._ "D-dont bother!" He stammered out. "A-are you also actors?"

"No, no," Lau smiled. "I am but a humble branch manager working at a trading company." _You deal in opium and prostitutes. _"My name is Lau, and this here is my little sister, Ran Mao. Who might you be?"

At that, the man shuffled his feet nervously and poked his fingers together. _Aw, he's adorable! _What? Don't judge me. "I'm an eye specialist," he revealed shyly. "And I'm also a bit of a writer..."

"Ooh, a wordsmith huh?" Lau complimented immediately. "That's amazing!" _So he writes? _It stood to reason that the reason behind Ciel inviting him to the ball was because he had read something the man had written and liked it (probably).

"No such thing!" He hastened to say. "I'm nothing special at all! I have never even met the earl before, so I don't really know why I was invited." _So he isn't confident in his writing skills?_ Whatever he had written was probably small then. If he wrote part time, then his stories probably appeared in newspapers or magazines.

Lau shrugged and poked Ran-Mao's cheek affectionately. "Who knows?" He chirped. "I don't really know what that moody guy is thinking. Still," his voice changed to something that was just a tad bit less jovial, and more dangerous. "Without a doubt, something interesting will happen. Maybe."

_Please no,_ I sighed to myself internally. I'd had more than enough _interesting_ happenings. Couldn't we just have a normal event for once? Although, I suppose that was a bit much to ask, what with Ciel's position, the demon, the hellhound (I was missing Pluto), as well as every other _interesting _acquaintance we had.

"Moreover," Lau's tone had gone back to its normal, genial manner. "The earl hates the staunch, social like and is famous for being a rare character that hardly ever shows himself. I think that this is the first time that he has ever invited people into his home."

_That's true, _I sighed to myself as I finally tuned out the conversation. Ciel wasn't much of a people-person. I think it's because most people were either afraid of him, or pissed off at him. Ciel Phantomhive did not have friends, he had pawns, and then he had enemies.

And then he had a few people that he did not dislike. I considered myself in this group.

I arranged my hair and leaned against the wall to wait for Sebastian's signal, opting to bide my time by calculating how much all the diamond rings on that guy's fingers were worth. "Why don't you leave your teasing of the guests at that?" A familiar voice spoke up. "Thank you for accepting my invitation today. I am the head of the house, Ciel Phantomhive."

You know, I always found the way that people reacted when they found that the infamous Earl Phantomhive was actually a thirteen year old child rather amusing. I don't quite remember my reaction, but I don't think I was too shocked. A bit surprised, yes, but that didn't probably last long. I mean, that hadn't been the most surprising thing I'd discovered.

Sebastian was right behind him, and his eyes found mine where I was peering around the door. For a moment, I thought he was going to scold me for acting out of place, but he simply smirked like he knew something I did not and gestured for us to come out. _That guy gets on my nerves. _

"Hmm?" Ciel glanced around curiously as I took my place beside him. "It seems that the guest of honour hasn't arrived yet."

"With this foul weather, his arrival would have been delayed," Sebastian replied.

Ciel nodded in understanding. "Oh well," he sighed. "It's not like we can keep everyone waiting in the hall like thi-!" At that moment, there was a knock at the door, which almost went unheard due to the storm outside. "Ah, that must be him."

The guest in question was a tall, blonde man with a stern visage and lips that looked unaccustomed to smiling too kindly. His eyebrows were bushy, and drawn into a permanent look of annoyance. "Pleased to make your acquaintance," he introduced himself in a gruff tone of voice, or that might just have been his accent. "I am Georg von Siemens. I am grateful for your invitation, Lord Phantomhive."

Nothing about him was interesting, and I took one look at him and looked away. The guy behind him, however... "Thanks for the invitation!" Charles Grey smiled. "Are the preparations complete, then?" _Ah fuck, it's him._ I kept my expression neutral, however. There were a lot of high-class guests around. It wouldn't do to act out just because of one irritating person.

Mey-Rin shut the door behind them, and then scampered towards the table that had been arranged with hors d'oeuvres and drinks for the guests to snack on. The two noble personages shook hands. "I am deeply sorry to have delayed you," Lord Siemens apologised.

"Of course not," Ciel brushed his apology away courteously. "You have come from afar. Let us exchange greetings once the party has started. For now, please chat freely at the buffet."

I curtsied and inclined my head deferentially when Lord Siemens passed by me, and then I snarled when Grey walked by. The wink he'd thrown at me may have had something to do with that though. _Sebastian, why are you not doing anything? _I glared up at him with a mix of irritation, but mostly curiousity. For crying out loud, he wasn't even _glaring_ at the man!

Instead, he whipped out a sheet of paper from his pocket with a host-like smile. "Well them, I will call out your names so that you may please proceed to the dining room in order. First..."

With a tray on which tiny little snacks had been arranged, I made my way through the guests one by one, occasionally pausing to offer them a bite of whatever fantastic thing Sebastian had whipped up. I stored their names in my mind for future reference. _Georg von Siemens,_ I walked past the man with barely a glance. _The director of the Bamberger Bank in Germany. _I was right about him being unaccustomed to smiling. While polite, the shape of his lips looked uncomfortable.

_Carl Woodley, _something about the man made me wary. Maybe it was just his expression. He looked like the kind of person that would stab you in the back, and then offer to stitch it back up for an incredibly high fee. He was the president of a diamond polishing business, which explained the large jewels decorating his fingers. "It's still just a humble business," he replied to someone's statement. _I do not like him._

_Patrick Phelps_, I stared at him for a moment. He looked nervous and shy, and seemed much younger than the others in the room. _Shipbuilding/ shipping Blue Star Line company supervision executive of the trade division. _Out of everyone else in the room, he had the longest title.

"Earl, would you mind introducing me as well?" Lau spoke up. He had been sitting back and watching the Europeans talk business.

Ciel glanced at him and nodded. "Of course," he gestured to Lau, turning their attention to him. "This is Mr. Lau. He is the English brand manager for the Shanghai trading company, Kunlun." _Don't let the fancy title fool you, it isn't fancy at all._

The only person who seemed to click as to what Lau's practice actually entailed was Phelps, which was somewhat surprising. "From Kunlun...?" He repeated, and then he seemed to freeze and he quickly looked away from the Chinese man.

_What happened? _I glanced at Lau, who just smiled and bowed to the other guests. "Nice to meet you all," he greeted. "My name is Lau."

"To have a branch in England, you must certainly have a large network," Siemens commented, and then he yelped when, out of absolutely nowhere, Ran-Mao plastered herself to his side. _Oh, well would you look at that?_ "What the-?!"

_Her breasts are literally squeezing his arm. _"Oh my," Lau scolded cheerily. "I'm so sorry, she's such a pampered child. Even though we do have a wide network," the way he suddenly leaped back into work-related topics was obvious to me. "We haven't bothered Germany yet. Please teach us things for future reference."

Siemens finally managed to pry the Chinese girl away from him and he held her at arm's length. "Fine, so would you please let go?" He snapped, although his anger seemed to stem more from embarrassment than anything else. He coughed and composed himself. "If you've got an interest in Germany, then ask me again tomorrow. I also have some interest in the state of affairs in Asia."

"Oi," Ciel glared at Lau out of the corner of his eyes. "What do you think you're doing?"

"A marketing ploy," I shrugged. "Appetizers?" I offered the tray of assorted delicacies.

Ciel took something that looked like it contained shrimp, eying the other guests curiously. I wondered where Sebastian was, but decided not to think too much about it and turned to go elsewhere. "Thank you for inviting us today," a new voice said.

_Grimsby Keane, _a theatrical producer. And his girlfriend or lover or whatever, _Irene Diaz_. She was an opera singer and she was dazzling. I mean, sure Keane was good looking, but Irene was beautiful. It was clear that literally every other man in the room thought so. _I hope Sebastian doesn't see her. _Wait, what?

"The fact that the plays you direct are a splendid fine art has become the topic of conversation even in Germany," Siemens complimented. "I definitely want you to make a public performance with Miss Irene in Germany..."

As they spoke, my eyes landed on the man behind him, the one that looked so out of place amongst the glamour. Unlike the others, he had not been introduced, and he hadn't spoken with anyone at all. However, just as it seemed like he was going to introduce himself by himself, Grey suddenly declared a toast, drowning him out easily, and I was jostled away to fetch champagne for the guests.

I spotted him later from my place amidst the drinkers. He was sitting alone and looking depressed. _Ciel better have had a good reason for inviting this poor man to this event without even speaking to him._ _Still_, I thought to myself as I picked up a new tray of drinks. _I might as well do what I can to make him feel welcome._ He didn't look up as I made my way over to him and bowed slightly so the tray was in his line of sight. "Would you like a glass, sir?"

"Huh?" He blinked, as though surprised at being spoken to, and then his eyes rose to my face. I couldn't help smiling at the way he blushed when he saw me. It had been so long since a man had actually _blushed_ in my presence. The action was cute, and gave him a sweet, boyish air. _Aw, look at that. _"Ah, um, th-thank you..."

I straightened properly and smiled sweetly at him. "There are also more appetizers, if you would care for some," I added once he had taken a glass from my tray. "If you like, I could..."

"Thalia." I groaned internally at Sebastian's voice behind me. "We have other guests, do we not?" I scowled at him internally. _What the hell? You wouldn't do anything about the guy who has been making eyes at me since he met me. Now that there's this nice person in front of me, this is when you suddenly want to be jealous? _"Thalia?"

If that was how he wanted to be, then fine. His behaviour was getting on my nerves, so I rolled my eyes and turned away with a bit more attitude than was probably necessary. "_Yes_, I'm _going_. Yeesh," I muttered under my breath. "Possessive jerk."

Still, I bet he was wishing he'd let me stay. Lau had sidled up to me and asked me if I liked Ran-Mao's dress, and then he'd started saying something about having a similar dress for me if I wanted. I did not, and so I'd had to quickly escape from that situation, and then I ended up in a worse one.

"Hey, you!" I whirled around in response, only to be met by the flushed red face of Lord Siemens. Only, instead of being embarrassed, he just looked drunk. Like, really drunk. Not drunk enough to be stumbling around, but clearly drunk enough to have traded stern expression on his face for something more lewd.

Beside him was the pretty face of Irene Diaz, who looked rather nervous about being around the lord. Judging from the way she had her arms around her chest, he had clearly been making a pass at her, or at least done something to make her feel defensive.

"So the earl has pretty servants like you, eh?"

_Nope, he was making a pass at her. _Apparently alcohol made him loose. Good to know. "Thank you, sir," I took a few steps backwards slowly. "I'm flattered and-"

"Flattered, eh?" He laughed. "Well, your job is to please the guests, right? So why don't you please me?" I was torn between throwing up, and laughing. Both were equally bad choices, as was my usual response of:_ no, now please get the hell away from me before I gut you._

"I'm afraid I can't do that," I replied as cordially as I could, which was difficult. "Would you care for a drink though?" I offered before seeing the glass of beer in his hand. "Or not..."

He scowled at my refusal. "Wha-at?" He slurred. "Then I guess I can have some fun with this one..." so saying, he tossed a heavy arm over Irene's shoulders.

"_I told you to stop touching me!_" Her voice was loud enough to draw everyone's attention to us. _Dammit. _"To have you all over me with your disgusting hands," she snapped. "I can't take it anymore! Just leave me alone!"

"It's your fault for wearing those clothes," he retorted, slurring even more now. "You English women are all the same! You really want to be touched, don't you?" He leered at her with a sickening grin. "Don't pretend to act so sweet and innocent now..."

The sound of her hand making contact with his face was loud and sharp, and it was enough to send him sprawling backwards and to the ground. "Insolent jerk!" She screamed. "Have some shame!" _This looks like it's going to get a bit violent..._

"Why you," he snarled. "Like I'll let you say that to me!" I saw the hand holding his drink pull back, and I moved forward to shield the lady from the sudden splash of cold English beer. _This...is disgusting._ I was never going to be able to get the smell of alcohol out of my hair, or my dress.

Plus, I'd also spilled the champagne I'd been carrying all over myself in addition to the beer. _No doubt I'll have to clean this up, _I sighed to myself as I carefully opened my eyes so that I wouldn't get any of the alcohol to hurt me. _Damn pervert. _Someone came to stand beside me, and I turned slowly. "This is a dining hall," Ciel said. "In any case, that will be enough from you for today. Thalia, go clean yourself up."

I nodded and started to move off. Just as I thought the drama was over, Grimsby yelled from across the room. "You old pervert!" He grabbed a bottle and threw it at Siemens with accuracy usually unseen in someone so drunk. The bottle of high, premium-grade champagne would have probably knocked out the man, and left him with severe concussion and bleeding. That, or it would have killed him.

Either way, we never got to find out what would have happened because a second later, a dark shape soared overhead, grabbed the bottle, uncorked it, and then proceeded to pour the sparkling liquid into a tower of glasses that no one had seen before and probably hadn't been there a few seconds ago.

Sebastian smirked down at the gathering. "This is a fantastic wine from the village of Purcari in south-eastern Moldova," he said. "Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy it." _When the fuck...? Why am I even asking?_ I shifted away while the guests rushed for the glasses, including Siemens. _Old pervert, _I winced when I felt the sensation of wet fabric against my skin. _This had better not stain._ "Are you alright, Thalia?"

Before I could answer, a towel was placed over my hair. I pushed it out of my face and glared up at Sebastian halfheartedly. "You really need to pick who you choose to shoo me away from," I muttered under my breath. Behind him, I could see Ms. Diaz lurking and staring at Sebastian with admiring eyes. _Oi, who jumped in front of you? I don't recall it being this pervert. _

The look on her face annoyed me. She had no right to look so lovestruck and emotional when she already had someone, and I was pleased when Sebastian ignored her in favour of me. _I need to calm down. _

Ciel hummed to himself, his eyes on the drunk, loose blonde. The next words out of his mouth surprised me, not because of what he said, but the language in which he said them. "_So once that solemn man gets some alcohol into him, this is how he becomes?_" His French was flawless. "_From the looks of it, he's a repeat offender._"

"_Even so,_" Sebastian replied, also in French. "_Showing how little self-constraint one has...I wonder whether he's just an immense fool, or if he really knows no shame at all._" His hands were still using the towel to mop me up. I batted him away and resumed his task myself.

"_Stop it,_" I snapped. "_Don't you realise how this looks? Besides, he's probably always a pervert. Alcohol just helps him act out._"

Ciel blinked, looking surprised that I understood what he was saying. Hadn't he read the diary? My...mother had been French. I'd been speaking the language for quite a while. I hadn't understood why she had insisted on teaching me, but I did now. I could also do a bit of German, and just a _tiny_ bit of Italian from all the books I'd read. "_He seems like the incurable type of guy that would make a doctor hopeless._"

I giggled at that, as did someone else. The man who had been sitting alone was snickering along. He understood French? I was even more surprised when Ciel pretended to shush him. Ciel engaging in childish and humourous games with another person? Who was this person? "_Who is he_?" I asked.

"That," he turned me, speaking in English now. "Is Arthur Conan Doyle."

It took far longer than I care to admit before the name clicked. _Holy shit, that's the guy who wrote _A Study in Scarlet_ with that fancy new character! I want to kiss his face, that's so amazing!_

Books and stories are amazing, and people who write books and stories are amazing. And now, here was one such person not even ten feet away from me! At the very least, I needed his autograph. "Thalia, don't you have to go and change?" Sebastian prompted and I pouted up at him. What a way to ruin my excitement.

"Yes, yes, I'll go," I pulled the towel away from my hair and draped it over my shoulders, leaving behind the sounds of drunken laughter as I left for my room.

**Please read and review!**


	38. The First Murder

**I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS! Also, I apologize about Thalia's swearing. I just think she's the sort of person who would only yell profanities when she was highly stressed or really angry. I mean, what with her life, she would have picked up some undesirable language at some point.**

**I own nothing except Thalia.**

**The First Murder**

I suppose it wasn't such a great idea to have a giant fountain of alcohol in the vicinity of a man who'd just recently been revealed to become a massive pervert when inebriated, but that's exactly what happened. The scene I returned to when I had finished changing was one of almost complete chaos and, after rescuing Mey-Rin from the lord's clutches, I'd had to console her by rubbing her back and offering up helpful suggestions on where to kick if he tried to grope her again.

Still, even the most hardwearing drunk has their limit. By 11 p.m. Lord Siemens was out like a lamp, and snoring on the couch with an empty0 glass of champagne clutched in his fingers. "Has Master Siemens fallen asleep already?" It was less of a question and more of a noted statement from Ciel.

"It seems like it," I nodded. Ciel was still sitting next to the author, and I couldn't help being excited because _he was right there and, oh my stars he created Sherlock Holmes and I could kiss you! _Well, I actually couldn't, because Sebastian would probably frown and get all possessive and jealous and then I would have to calm him down. "He shouldn't have drunk so much. _Wine-sodden pervert,_" I muttered the last bit under my breath.

Ciel chuckled; apparently he had heard my insult. "At any rate, Sebastian," he nodded to the approaching butler. "Take the lord to his room. I suppose I should retire too." Sebastian nodded and manoeuvred the heavyset man onto his back. "I'm very sorry," Ciel addressed the other guests. "But I'm going to excuse myself as well."

Lau looked up from where he was stroking Ran-Mao and grinned. "Ah," he chuckled. "So the earl is going to sleep already?"

"For a child such as myself, it's bedtime already," Ciel didn't snap at all, or take offense at Lau's teasing. "Please enjoy yourselves." I watched them for a few seconds, and then glanced around the room at the rest of the guests. Grimsby had suggested a game of billiards, and most of the guests had crowded around the table.

However, there was one person who hung back. My eyes narrowed slightly at Charles Grey. I made sure to keep my head straight and down so that I gave the appearance of dutifully cleaning up the table, but I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He was staring after Ciel and Sebastian.

When Sebastian returned, I made my way over to him. I didn't say anything, because I was sure that he'd also noticed anything I had. Still, some part of me felt the need to be closer to him, and I wasn't sure why. The feeling was urgent, like the way a mother might clutch tightly to a baby if there was something threatening in the vicinity, whether she could see it or not.

In the same way, I wasn't sure how or when, but _something_ was going to happen. There were a bunch of rich, famous people staying in the house of England's most notorious black noble. How could something _not_ happen?

Finally, after another forty-five minutes of playing billiards, some drunken laughter, and a game of cards that ended in the deck being spilled on the ground, the revellers began to head off to bed. "Finally," I muttered, making my way to the kitchen with the glasses and plates that had been used. The clock chimed the hour, and I glanced up at the small clockwork on the wall.

Mey-Rin was still moping about the earlier incident with her face buried in her arms. "This is the worst," she groaned. I rolled my eyes, but patted her on the back as I passed by her. _She should have just kicked him. Maybe stepped on his foot? Something._

Sebastian was doing the washing up when I dumped the glassware into the sink. He looked pretty cute doing something so domestic, but I would never tell him that. Just as I was about to ask if I could assist him, a bell began to ring from the bells outside the kitchen. Normally the only bell that rings out of those bells is the one to Ciel's room, or his study, but then I remembered that we had guests and obviously one of them wanted something.

Mey-Rin poked her head out of the kitchen to check which room needed our assistance. "Gah! It's Lord Siemen!" She panicked and scrambled further into the kitchen. "Oooh, I don't want to go..." she whimpered.

I patted her on the shoulder. "I'll go, if you want," I suggested. _And if he tries anything, I'll just punch him in the gut and have him throw up everything he's drunk! See, there are benefits!_

"I'll come too," Sebastian levelled me with a look that told me that he knew what I was thinking and he did not approve at all. I pouted and looked away. "At any rate, he seemed really drunk," he undid his apron and draped it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. "Thalia, fetch a jug of water. Mey-Rin, you can take over the washing up."

Thunder rolled through the sky, and lightning flashed spasmodically in untimed intervals. The sound was deafening and, even though I wasn't normally frightened of storms, I still felt a bit uneasy. This, coupled with my earlier feelings of anxiousness, really had me on edge. "This really is an awful storm," I murmured out loud. "I hope it calms down soon."

"If you're scared, you can always hold my hand," Sebastian's tone of voice was teasing. I scowled at him, forgetting my uneasiness, and marched ahead until I had reached the door of the appointed room. "Master Georg," Sebastian knocked on the door politely. "Did you call?"

There was silence for a moment, and then that was broken by the sound of someone screaming in agony from inside the room. "Master Siemens?" I banged harder on the door. "What's wrong? _Master Siemens!_" The sound of my constant banging and shouting soon drew the rest of the guests. "He's not answering," I took a step back and turned to Sebastian. "We probably have to break the door down."

"Understood," he suddenly pulled back his foot and kicked the door, sending it right off its hinges and sending showers of splinters flying into the room. _That was mildly unnecessary, but I guess it got the job done and...oh fuck._

Sitting in an armchair in front of his room fire, was a now dead Lord Siemens. His torso was covered in blood, and his eyes were rolled up almost into his head. The screams of stunned horror were loud and unanimous, the only people not freaking out whatsoever were Sebastian, myself, and Arthur. "Excuse me!" He broke through the crowd and ran to the body, his fingers finding the place where the pulse beat in his wrist. "My god," he spoke in a horrified voice. "He's _dead!_"

Actually, scratch what I said about us being the only ones not losing our minds. There was actually one more person: Charles Grey. The white-haired man did not look surprised by the turn of events in any way. In fact, he was avoiding looking directly at the corpse.

"Oh my..." Grimsby held onto Irene to keep her from collapsing.

A clatter of footsteps, and then Bard and Finny ran into the room. "What was that scream just-!" They both froze at the doorway. "I-is that person dead?!"

"Yes," Arthur nodded. "Most likely the blood loss from the wound on his chest was fatal." I arched an eyebrow and moved closer just a bit so I could see the corpse more clearly. _Ah, I see,_ I frowned. _That makes no sense._

Bard suddenly wiped his brow. "I can't be certain because it's dark," he spoke to Sebastian. "But isn't it kinda hot in this room?" I blinked and took note of the temperature. Huh, he was right. The temperature of the room had bypassed _warm_ and was now just a bit uncomfortable.

Sebastian nodded and motioned to the lit fireplace. "Yes, it is. I heated up the room beforehand, but..." he shrugged in a seemingly helpless manner. "Maybe he was cold?"

"What's all the racket?" The guests turned when Ciel appeared, drawn by the noise. He was followed by a full grown Tanaka holding some candles for light. "What is going o-!" The young boy froze when he noticed the dead body occupying the room.

After all the panicking, Grimsby attempted to be the voice of reason. "A-At any rate," he started. "We shouldn't move anything until the Yard arrives-!"

"No," Bard interrupted him coolly. "It'd be better if we moved the body now. I can't say it any nicer than this, but meat rots faster than you might think. Even if we turn off the fire, he'll start going off pretty quickly if he stays next to the hearth."

Irene looked faint at that bit of news. "Rot, you say?" Grimsby had to grab hold of the poor woman before she fainted. _Well, you heard the man._ It was meat. Of course the corpse would start going off the longer it was left in a warm environment. _I'm being a bit callous about this, aren't I?_

"I suggest we move him to a cool, dark place," Arthur said. "At least until an expert can take a look at him and perform an autopsy."

From there, the body of Lord Siemens was transferred to the Phantomhive cellar, as per Sebastian's order. "The Yard won't be showing up for a while," Lau pushed the curtain aside to stare out at the raging tempest outside. "It is quite a storm, isn't it?"

The Chinese man had been incredibly quiet during the whole debacle, opting to stand by the wall and watch. If I didn't know Lau, I would probably suspect him, but he was like Ciel. I didn't think he was the sort to kill in broad daylight, where others could find the body.

"_So you mean we can't leave here either?!_" Woodley screamed. He seemed to react the worst to the murder, and the impending incarceration. Well, maybe not the _worst_. Mr. Phelps had fainted. However, he did have the most violent reaction. "_I'm not staying at a place where a murder took place!_"

_It's not like you have that much of a choice. _"Indeed," Lau smirked. "We are surely on the shores of a deserted island." _Why does this situation remind me of that old nursery rhyme? Ten Little Indians._ I hoped we didn't all go the way of the little Indians in the song. "It also means that there is a good chance that the killer is still inside the mansion."

At that everyone froze, and then a voice that was too silky spoke up. "Now that you mention it," Grey stared round at the guests. "If you think about it logically, then wouldn't the killer be one of us?"

_Thank you, bastard,_ I glared at him. _Like we needed to be more paranoid than we already were. _I could see his point, but I already suspected him. If he was the killer, pointing out something like that would draw any attention away from him to be refocused on someone else. "What!?" Grimsby yelled. "Why us?!"

"Ah!" I turned to stare at Irene, who looked deep in thought, and then blinked when she faced me. "When we first arrived, the door was locked right?" I nodded, wondering what she was going to say. "Then isn't it possible that someone broke in through the window, locked the door to give them enough time for an escape, and then left through the window again?"

Grey walked over to the clear glass windows that led onto the thin balcony. "But if you came in \side in this sort of rain, wouldn't you leave tracks? Besides, this room is on the second floor, and the windows are locked."

_You could pick the lock, and I could totally scale two floors up a building!_ There was no argument for the lack of tracks though. "So someone locked it from the hallway and escaped that way?" Grimsby suggested.

"That is highly unlikely," Sebastian shook his head. "The keys for this mansion all go with the original ward locks from when this mansion was first built. They are complex pieces so it is unlikely that someone, other than the craftsman, could make an imitation.

Furthermore, the keys are all locked away in a safe. The only copy of the key that opens the safe is in the possession of the butler, me. Therefore, the keys stored there can't be taken."

Sebastian went on to explain that, apart from the actual lock, there was also a latch which allowed the person within the room to be able to lock the door from the inside only. "In other words," Ciel suddenly spoke up. "This is a locked room murder."

_A locked room murder...?_ I knew about those. It's amazing how many interesting bits of information you can pick up from books, such as how to break into houses without picking locks or forging keys. "Preposterous!" Woodley barked. "We are not in some novel!"

"No, clearly not," Ciel yawned. "If anyone published such a crude locked-room-drama, they would surely get complaints. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Wordsmith?"

Arthur squeaked when he was addressed, but quickly caught on. "Ah, that's right!" He nodded. "Surely if you used those..."

Lau stared at him curiously. "Used what?"

I spoke up before anyone else could. "A needle and thread," I said. "If you have those, then you could easily open the doors from outside." The procedure was actually rather easy, although it sounded complicated. "I assume that's what happened, since the door wasn't locked with the key."

"In mystery novels, it's the oldest trick in the book," Ciel folded his arms across his chest. "However, the criminal isn't looking to write a mystery novel, of course. It's more likely he's trying to create a realistic smoke-screen or something."

I didn't look at Ciel when he stared at me with an expression that said _how did you know all of that?_ I wasn't going to tell him that it was one of the many tricks I'd taught myself for breaking into houses and things with locks. "That certainly explains the locked room murder," Lau nodded.

"But it also means that anyone could be the killer," Arthur pointed out. _No, just anyone who could perform the manoeuvre._ No one seemed to think this, and the air was suddenly filled with vows of innocence, screams of blame, and a lot of insults being thrown back and forth between the people.

"Now, now," Lau tried to diffuse the situation before it got violent. "Let's hear everyone's alibis, shall we?" Everyone calmed down at that. Alibis were good, alibis would narrow down the suspects faster. "Lord Siemens was killed after he had retired to go to his room. To be precise, it was between the time that the lord rang the servant's bell, and when the butler and maid arrived at his room. If you have an alibi to cover that time, then you're safe."

Irene Diaz and Grimsby Keane had been in the billiards room, along with Charles Grey (I still suspected him), Arthur Conan Doyle, and myself.

Lau, Ran-Mao and Woodley had been in the lounge, along with Sebastian.

Bard, Mey-Rin and Finny had been cleaning up in the kitchen.

"Besides," Grimsby pointed out. "None of us even knew what room Siemens was staying in. To find him in such a large mansion would take quite some time, right?"

There were nods of agreement. After all, the mansion was quite large. Only someone with knowledge of the building's layout, as well as Siemen's room could have been able to find him. "Which means that..."

_Which means what?_ I snarled internally when eyes suddenly turned to Ciel, even as I felt my heart begin to beat heavily. "Excuse me for asking earl," Lau didn't sound sorry in the least. "But what were you doing at the time?"

His eyes narrowed, and then Ciel sighed. "Certainly I am the only one who hasn't got an alibi," he acquiesced. "But I don't have any reason to kill the lord."

"Ooh, is that so?" Grey's voice was gratingly obnoxious, especially now given the situation. _I want to stab him many times with his own sword._

"Well, you wouldn't say there was no reason at all now, would you?" Lau said. "Most of the reasons for someone to kill another are reasons that seem inconceivable to other people. It doesn't matter how many times a scientist studies it, the psychology of a person is something that cannot be comprehended by other people.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. It was nearly impossible to understand another person. Humanity was messed up and flawed in so many ways, and sometimes the patterns we made when we broke were inconceivable and strange and difficult to follow. Still, I knew Ciel wasn't the killer. Ciel rarely killed on his own, he relied on Sebastian for that.

"Besides, your company has a branch in Germany, does it not?" He continued. "There could have been some memos outside of the official books with a major bank executive from Germany, like him."

_...fancy language out of the way, what is he suggesting? _"Are you suggesting that my Funtom Company is in some horrible debt?" Ciel looked annoyed. "That is absurd."

Lau shrugged with a smile. He was always smiling, and I didn't like it. "It's not unrealistic though. No matter how big a company is, there are times when all of it can vanish overnight..."

"Wait a minute!" Finny suddenly shouted, his eyes wide and teary. "I don't get all the complicated stuff, but the young master would never-!"

"Finny, enough. Back off." The blonde stopped talking and retreated backwards. I slid over to him and patted him on the shoulder with a small smile. _You're a good kid. Ciel's personality is just normally that terrible._

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds after Finny's outburst, and then Grey spoke up. "I'd like some insurance," he said. "Insurance that we'll get out of here alive, that is," he explained when he caught our questioning stares. "Since the mansion is currently under the control of a killer, and we can't leave until the storm settles, what if we were all _gagged_ before the storm settles?"

_Gagged?_ "Let's confine him then!" Lau chirped, destroying the fearful aura.

"_Confine him?!_" The servants yelled. "_Why would we confine the young master?!_"

"Eh? But he's scary!" _Who is the one constantly calling him cute and tiny?_ I glared at Lau with a deadpan expression, and then glanced at Ciel when he sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better," Ciel consented. "Then go ahead." Why was he being so calm about this? Was he planning something? If so, what? And why had he left me out? I thought we were closer than that!

_Well, I suppose there's no help for it. Whatever happens will probably work out just fine. _Nonetheless, if this was one of Ciel's schemes, I decided to consider everything from that point of view. _But why would he want to be confined? _To prove a point, that he wasn't the killer.

"If we're going to confine him," Grey pointed out. "Then it can't be in his own room. Nobles' rooms generally have some kind of secret escape route built in. My place has them too." _Well, you're a shady character so of course._ Actually, Ciel was a shady character as well, so his assumption made sense. I'd already found a bunch of hidey-holes all over the mansion.

Sebastian nodded in agreement. "Well then, we'll keep an eye on him while attending to his-!"

"That won't do," Lau cut him off. "You're his servants, aren't you? You might help the earl escape." _Suggesting something so obvious so that it could be shot down. _I used that trick sometimes. By doing that, the person would believe that any suggestion they made was all their idea. In that way, the guests would think that they were plugging up any holes when they really weren't.

"So, in other words," Grey turned to Irene and Grimsby. "It would be best if one of the guests would stay with him and keep watch."

Grimsby paled and wrapped his arms around the lady. "No, thank you!" He snapped. "Like I would leave Irene all by herself!" _Aw, how sweet._

"I-I just can't!" Was Woodley's incredibly wondrous excuse.

"I don't want to either!" Lau piped up. He was not taking anything seriously, was he? "He's scary~!"

Finally, Arthur exhaled resignedly. "I don't particularly want to either," he said. "But someone has to do it, right?" _Finally, someone with a sense of morality._ He jumped when Lau walked over to him and clapped a hand on his back with far more joviality than the situation called for.

"It's up to you, Mr. Wordsmith!" He beamed. "Please watch him carefully so that he doesn't escape!" I rolled my eyes at the display, and then turned my gaze on Charles Grey. _So I was right about him trying to divert attention,_ I thought. _And onto Ciel too._ I had a feeling that Grey wasn't particularly fond of my young master, or maybe Ciel was just the unfortunate scapegoat.

After that had been decided, we were all dismissed to our rooms for bed. Mey-Rin and I made our way to the bedroom for female servants, which I was sharing with her because, during such a horrendous thunderstorm, as well as the events of the night, the presence of another human being made me feel better.

I changed into my white nightdress and slipped under the covers. Unfortunately, as I'd expected, I couldn't get to sleep. The events of the night kept playing over and over in my mind, especially what I had noticed that hadn't made any sense. _Maybe I didn't see it properly,_ I considered the thought._ The room was a bit shadowy, but still...I'm pretty sure..._ "Hey, Thalia?"

"Hmm?" I blinked and rolled over so that I could see Mey-Rin's form under her blanket. With her glasses off, she did look very different. More serious, and less like a klutz. "What is it?"

She didn't answer for a while, and when she did her voice was low. "Do you believe that the young master did it?"

I snorted at that. "I don't," I replied firmly. "The young master wouldn't carry out anything in such a clumsy manner, and definitely not where others could find out." He had more grace than that.

"Yeah, you're right, you are," she yawned, but I could tell that she was smiling. "Well then, goodnight." I murmured my own goodnight, and listened as her breaths slowed and deepened. I listened to the crashing of the storm outside my window, and then howling of the wind.

_I feel so nervous,_ I rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes. _Like something might happen. Maybe I'll feel better if I go to sleep._

* * *

oOo

* * *

I could only have been asleep for about an hour when I was awoken by the sound of someone knocking at the door. Normally I would have ignored it, because I was sleeping in Mey-Rin's room, so the midnight visitor was probably for her. However, there was a killer on the loose, and so my nerves were a bit on end.

On the bed beside mine, Mey-Rin grunted and began to shift. "Hmm? Ugh, who is it...?" She muttered groggily.

I grunted and rolled over. "It's your damn door," I muttered groggily, settling down again. "Tell 'em to go away."

The knocking continued, and she finally groaned and tried to get up, only to roll right out of the bed and onto the floor with a pained yelp. "I'm coming!" She called out, searching frantically for her glasses. Her shout of pain had been enough to rouse me entirely, and I finally sat up with a groan. _Whoever this person is, they better have a fucking good reason for waking us up._ "Sorry for the wait..."

This person, however, was revealed to be Sebastian, and he was holding a cage with an owl perched inside. "Sorry about the hour," he apologised, although I had stopped being worried about how late it was, and started wondering about the owl.

"_S-S-S-S-Sebastian!?_" Mey-Rin squeaked. "_W-W-What is it at this time of the night? Y-You c-couldnt be sneaking in for you-know-wha-!_"

Sebastian cut her off quickly before he panicked squealing could rouse the guests, or before she exploded in a fountain of blood. "There is something I'd like for you to do first thing in the morning," he said.

"First thing in the morning?" I had kept most of myself hidden behind Mey-Rin, because I was still dressed in only my night-clothes, as she seemed to have forgotten that she was as well.

Oddly, Sebastian didn't even look affected. He wasn't trying to peek at me at all, and his voice was completely serious. "Please release this bird at dawn," he handed Mey-Rin the cage. "There is a letter wrapped around its leg."

"A letter, you say?" The maid wondered. "For who?"

"It's better that you don't know," Sebastian replied curtly. "However, I'm sure there'll be a time when it will come in handy." I stared up at him suspiciously. _What are you planning? What is going on?_ "Do it immediately at dawn, do I make myself clear?" We nodded silently, what else could we do? "Well then, I will excuse myself," he turned to leave. "I'm sorry about the late hour."

I stared after him as he left, and then quickly pushed past Mey-Rin to rush after him. "Sebastian," I grabbed his sleeve and gazed up at him worriedly. "What's going on?"

He just smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, my dear. You should go back to sleep."

"I can't sleep with everything happening," I held his wrist in both hands now. "Can't I come with you?" I would normally never be so clingy, but I really felt like I needed to be by his side. Not for my sake, but for his (and that was a stupid thing to feel because honestly, what could I do compared to him?).

To my surprise, his eyes softened just a bit, and he lifted his free hand to cup my cheek. "How sweet, you' re worried about me," he kissed me on the forehead, and the sensation of his lips against my face was soft. _Hmm? That smell... _He pulled away and released me. "Go back to bed, my darling, and relax. Also, you should be careful whenever you open the doors at night," his eyes dropped over me in an obvious manner, lingering on my chest. "Seeing as you are a lady."

I squeaked and ran back up the stairs. Mey-Rin's nose was gushing blood when I returned to the room. "Wh-What did you guys do? Whah! A forbidden romance in the dark!" She squealed.

"It was nothing like that, you letch," I rolled my eyes. "And watch the owl, I don't want any of your blood on it." The bird hooted softly, and fluffed out its feathers. I poked my finger into the cage and stroked its back softly. _Wherever he wants to send you, fly fast._ I still had no idea what was happening, but if Sebastian wanted me to be calm, than I would be.


	39. The Pain of Death

**Okay, several things. Mostly an explanation: to the guest who wanted me to update yesterday, I'm so sorry I was at a dinner when I saw the review, Here is he update though, and happy belated birthday! I hope you had a great day! **

**Also, I'm currently in the UK for school, so my luggage is everywhere at the moment. I got a new laptop, and I think I may have forgotten some files back home (an apology to all those waiting for me to update my other stories). **

**I had so much fun with this chapter, especially with Thalia's emotions. I own nothing and damn I really wish I'd created a general disclaimer earlier. **

**The Pain of Death**

"_My, my," the shape stared at the small body lying on the thin bed. The fabric covering her was merely scraps stitched together, and full of holes. "What a tiny mistress you are," he leaned closer, close enough to study the face of the thin figure. Dark red hair splayed across her pillow like spilled blood. Her skin was pale and marked with small scratches and scars. Her body was lean, almost painfully so, and she shivered where she lay._

_She could only have been about 12 or so, far too young. He would have to wait, he would have to be patient. The black mark on the back of her neck hadn't formed entirely yet, but it was coming along nicely: a thin diamond at the base of her neck, with sharp lines that would curve beautifully over her shoulder blades and back._

_He eyed her once again, smiling to himself, revealing sharp teeth. She would be a beauty, he could tell. The promise was there in the soft pout of her lips, the thick lushness of her hair, the shape of her eyes even when shut. Yet, there was something about her, something in her scent, that made him wonder._

_He shook his head, he had no time for this. He would simply wait for his Mate to mature, grow older, and then he would claim her for himself. It wouldn't take long, he knew. Human lives were so fleeting compared to his own. He could wait._

_Yes, he could, but he could have this. Thalia shivered when she felt something warm brush over her mouth. The warmth spread, chasing away the chill, and she stopped shaking. Red eyes glowed, and the face above her smirked. "Sleep well, my little Mate."_

* * *

oOo

* * *

I awoke sometime at five in the morning, much earlier than was normal for me. Mey-Rin was still slumbering in her bed, but I wanted to release the bird promptly at the stroke of dawn. After bathing and dressing, I picked up the cage with the owl inside. It fluffed its feathers once more, and hooted quietly. It did not look threatened by the tempest outside.

_Owls can fly in storms,_ I remembered. "Fly fast," I ordered, unlatching my window, and then the cage door.

The bird took off, spreading its wings and soaring into the stormy sky until I couldn't see it amongst the raging thunderclouds. I left Mey-Rin, still asleep, and made my way through the house. _I could get a few of my chores done now_. Maybe I could clean out Lord Siemens room and find some clues that we'd missed the night before.

The mansion was eerily quiet since it was still early, and the closer I got to Master Siemens room, the more anxious I became. Why? Maybe the events were just getting to me. After all, I was about to enter a room in which a man had just died and whose killer was still on the loose. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and turned to enter the room.

There are two ways that I'd learned to act when someone very dear to me died. I could scream, thrash, curse and beg heaven and hell, until I realised that none of that would help me, or I could sit in cold, detached silence until the tears came. Both were entirely separate from one another, and I had never experienced both at the same time until then. And let me tell you...

...it was _torture._

Sebastian lay on the ground beside the hearth, his eyes wide, blank, and unseeing. His chest was covered in blood, as was his face, and there was a poker lodged in his heart. For a moment, I told myself that it couldn't be true. Of all the people, he couldn't be dead. He _couldn't _be! He was a demon! He was strong! He was...

Lying there in a pool of his own blood, blood that had stained the carpet beneath him, that trickled from the side of his mouth. I staggered closer, and fell to my knees by his side. "Sebastian_..._?" I touched his face, and he did not respond. "Sebastian, this isn't funny..." my voice sounded distant to my own ears, and desperate. I felt something inside me twist with excruciating pain, and I screamed. "_Sebastian!_"

It was an unnatural sound, one that I'd never thought I could make. It was wild and keening, like a wolf howling or a banshee screeching. I could hear the depths of my own pain in it. _Sebastian, oh my god, Sebastian...!_ I leaned over him, cradling his head on my lap, feeling the silent tears slip out from eyelids that wouldn't shut. I wanted to sob, I wanted to scream and cry and rail at every living thing, but I couldn't. The need to do so, and the inability to do so only added to the agonising squeezing in my chest and throat. I screamed again to try to relieve the pain.

My screaming, of course, woke the servants, as well as the other guests. "What happened?" Bard yelled, running into the room. "Thalia, what-? My god..."

"Mr. Sebastian!" Mey-Rin screamed. The sounds of their sobs drowned out my quiet, pained whimpers. I wanted to cry, but my throat felt choked, like my heart was trying to force its way out. I wanted to throw it up, claw it out of my chest, but all I could do was kneel over him, crying tears that dripped onto his face.

The whispers of the guests as they filed in reached my ears. Murmurs of horror, whispers of _what the hell happened? _And it occurred to me that one of them had killed him. One of the people behind me had killed Sebastian, and I was suddenly filled with rage like I had never experienced. Rage that bubbled and burned like a volcano like a volcano waiting to erupt, that concentrated itself in my heart and then froze over, filling me with chilling calm.

Whoever it was, I decided. I would hunt them down and slaughter them, I would make them pay in the most brutal way I could think of for taking him from me. Maybe revenge wasn't always the best course of action, but I couldn't simply let them get away with taking what was mine, what I loved.

Maybe Ciel and I were more alike than I'd thought.

"Wh-What do we tell the young master?" Mey-Rin bawled. _What will we tell Ciel? _

We didn't have to wonder long. Ciel stood in the doorway of the room, his eyes wide with shock. "Sebastian...?" His voice sounded faintly hollow, confused. He took a step forward, like he was in a trance, and was held back by Mey-Rin. "Let go of me!" He swung his arm, slapping her away. "Don't order your master around!"

"Young master..."

The sound of his foot stepping on Sebastian's blood was quiet, but I heard it clearly. "Sebastian, stop fooling around," his voice still sounded hollow. "Sleeping on the floor doesn't look all that comfortable to me." _What are you doing?_ "Exactly how long were you planning to be asleep?" He suddenly stepped on Sebastian's chest, and I tightened my grip on him. "I said _get up. Wake up!_" He suddenly yanked the poker out of Sebastian's chest, spraying more blood. "_That's an order! Wake up this instant!_"

_Stop it._

His fist connected with Sebastian's shoulder. "_Didn't you hear my order?_"

_Stop it._

"_Who said you could just die?!_" Another punch, and Sebastian jerked in my arms. More blood began to pool in his mouth. "_I won't allow this, Sebastian!_"

_Stop it! _My hand shot out and I grabbed Ciel's before it could come down one more time. "_Stop it, Ciel,_" I snarled at him, and my voice sounded different even to my own ears. "_Can't you see he's already gone?!_" I don't know what he saw in my eyes, but his own widened and his fingers went slack in mine.

"Y-You're kidding, right?" His voice was a mere whisper. "Are you dead?" I took a step back, not wanting to see the corpse of my beloved. "You, my butler..." Ciel sounded choked. "You...you were supposed to be my side until the end..."

No one could speak for a while, until Grey broke the silence. "If we leave him here, he'll rot," he said. "It'd be better if we moved him quickly." My head shot up and, just as quickly as the rage had risen, it froze over and eclipsed my heart in sharp points. The tears that had appeared in my eyes dried, and disappeared.

_If you are the one to blame,_ I gazed at him with no expression. _Then I will take so much pleasure in your death._

Once again, I'm not sure what he saw in my eyes, but I noted a flicker of fear pass through his own. Killing him would not bring Sebastian back, but I wouldn't be able to live happily knowing that the murderer of my beloved was still alive.

Lau hummed quietly. "Oh my," he murmured. "It would have been impossible for the confined earl to have committed this murder, right?" He suddenly smiled, and it was different from his usual ones. This one was cold, sadistic. "Things just got interesting..."

"_What the hell is with this mansion?_" Grimsby screamed. "_There were two murders overnight!_"

Irene clung to him. "And with that..." I followed her gaze to the bloodied poker. _He was stabbed with the poker._ It was the only weapon in the immediate vicinity.

Arthur lifted his head up to examine him. "There are also traces of being hit in the head," he noted. "He must have been hit from behind while collecting ashes."

"Either that," Grey suggested. "Or they just kept attacking without checking to see if he was already dead." I kept my gaze fixed on him for a moment, before eying the rest of the guests. "Two hits would be more likely to kill him than just one."

"Still, it's strange," the author murmured, and I turned my gaze back to him. At the moment, he was the only guest I trusted. He couldn't have killed Siemens, and he couldn't have killed Sebastian. Everyone else, however... "Even though he didn't die from the blow to the back of his head, why did the killer go out of his way to stab him from the front?"

I hadn't thought anything about it, but he was right. The poker was lodged in his chest, but he was bleeding from the back of the head. "It makes more sense to attack from the same angle a second time," Bard thought aloud. "

"But perhaps, there were multiple culprits," the doctor suggested. "For example, one of them could come up in front of him and distract him, while the other attacked from behind. Then the one in front could finish up the job by stabbing him."

That did sound extremely plausible, but if someone was skilled enough to move fast enough, then wouldn't that carry out the same effect? Certainly Charles Grey was incredibly skilled, and quick on his feet, as he had displayed the day he had visited and attacked us.

Lau shrugged. "Well, no matter how it happened, it's certain that this killer didn't feel any mercy or hesitation. To have killed even that butler, the culprit must be extremely..."

"_Stop it already!_" Finny shouted, stunning us. He hugged Ciel tightly to his chest. "_Why are you having this conversation in front of the young master?_" He yelled. "_Please think of his feelings!_" In spite of my emotions, or sudden lack of them, I couldn't help smiling just slightly. _He's a good kid. _

The guests, by Grey's suggestion, decided that the best thing to do would be to move Sebastian's body to the basement, and then discuss what to do over some food. Charles was the first to leave, and I watched him go, noting how he refused to catch my eyes.

Tanaka was appointed butler in Sebastian's place, and I was faintly surprised by how efficient he was in organising us, until I remembered that he had been Ciel's father's butler. _As long as he doesn't disappear into chibi-mode again..._

Breakfast was a tense affair on one side. Irene, Grimsby and Woodley eyed everyone else with suspicion and fear, while Lau, Ran-Mao and Charles smiled and tucked in heartily. Arthur simply stared round with a sad expression. "This smells good~!" Grey cheered. "I'm really hungry since I didn't get to eat this morning~!"

_Pig. _"What's wrong, Irene?" Grimsby glanced at the woman at his side. "You didn't even touch your food."

She shook her head and pressed the napkin to her lips like she was wiping off a bit of food. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "I'm not very hungry." _What a waste, I suppose someone else is going to have to eat it now._

"Hey, since there's some left over, is it okay is I have it?" _But not you._ Irene nodded and began to push her plate forward. "I didn't mean yours, I meant the one next to you." She blinked and glanced to her side. Sure enough, there was a full plate sitting on front of an empty chair. "Oh my, indeed there's one too many. Perhaps the chef got the numbers wrong."

"The one who prepared breakfast was Sebastian," Ciel replied coldly. "He wouldn't mix up numbers." _So who is missing? Lau, Ran-Mao, Grey, Woodley, Grimsby-! Ah, Phelps!_ He had fallen unconscious last night, and had been put to bed in the earl's room. _He might still be unconscious..._

That, or he could be something else. Woodley made a joke about him oversleeping, which diffused tensions a bit, until Arthur got to his feet. "Excuse me, but shouldn't we go have a look in the earl's bedroom?" And thus, the tensions returned. Ciel nodded and got to his feet, prompting the rest of us to follow.

Ciel's door was locked, as Master Siemens had been last night. "Mr. Phelps?" Arthur banged his fist against the door. "_Mr. Phelps, if you are in there please answer me!_" There was no response from the other side of the door. "And it's locked," he spun around to face Ciel. "Earl, where is the key?"

"I don't know," Ciel replied. "Sebastian took care of the key to my room. No one knows where he kept it except for him. Since he's dead now, even I don't know where it is..."

"Then we'll need to break the door down, right?" Grey piped up. For some reason, he was still holding his plate of food. I lifted my foot and smashed it against the door with strength I didn't even know I possessed. The door splintered and flew open. "Whew..." he whistled.

My expression didn't change from its blank, apathetic appearance as I lowered my foot and stepped into the room, and I wasn't surprised that we found a dead Mr. Phelps on the ground. What did surprise me, however, was the way he had died.

There were no visible signs of trauma, and no blood anywhere. There was a pool of saliva, leading me to believe that he had frothed at the mouth while dying. His fingers were clutching the carpet, as though he had been trying to crawl to the door, meaning he hadn't had proper use of his legs.

All of these were clear signs of one thing. "Poison," I stated dully. "He's been poisoned."

The wordsmith found two small puncture wounds on his neck, side by side. "Like he was stabbed by something," he commented. "It might be from a needle-like object that was used to inject the poison."

_No. There are two marks, and they are side by side._ The wounds looked more like the bites of a snake or, if you were into the occult, a vampire. I don't know why a part of me rolled my eyes at that, hadn't I already met a demon and two death gods? "Wow, the earl sure lives in a nice room~!" Lau cooed from where he was digging through Ciel's wardrobe. "Oh, you even held onto the clothes I gave you~! Did you wear them?"

"DON'T JUST SEARCH PEOPLE'S ROOMS AS YOU PLEASE!" Ciel yelled. "And like I would wear something like that!"

Irene shuddered. "A bite mark in the neck," she whispered. "It sounds just like Carmilla."

Ciel arched an eyebrow at her. "By Carmilla, do you mean Le Fanu's _The Vampire _Carmilla?" She nodded. _A vampire, huh?_ I doubted it, not because I doubted their existence, but because if the probability of one being in the vicinity was highly unlikely. _I should have asked Sebastian about this stuff. _I suddenly felt like crying and I quickly shoved the emotion away.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Woodley snapped. "You can't say that sort of occult, unscientific nonsense in the 19th century!" _You would say that, wouldn't you?_

"2:38 a.m." We turned to face Arthur. He was kneeling by the bed, a clock in his hands. It was the small alarm clock that Ciel kept by his bedside. The face was cracked, and then hands had stopped moving. "It probably fell down when he was writhing in pain." Which put the time of his death at around 2:38 in the morning, just a few hours after Lord Siemens.

* * *

oOo

* * *

After carrying Phelps's corpse to the cellar, everyone gathered in the tea room. I think Ciel could see that something about me had changed, but he didn't comment on it. I stood by his chair, leaning my hip against the high back and eying the guests coolly while they debated on the times of death.

Lord Siemens had obviously been killed first, and Phelps's death had occurred at about half past 2, Sebastian's death, however, was still unknown. "Ah, we saw Mr. Sebastian in the middle of the night!" Finny suddenly piped up. I blinked and thought back to the night before, when he had come into our room. _I'd wanted to go with him, and he said no._

Had he said that to protect me or something? _Stupid demon. _"It was around 2:50," Bard replied to the asked question. That time placed Sebastian as last to be killed. "He came to confirm the food stock, and then he gave Finny some instructions on cleaning the hearths."

"He asked Thalia and me to...take care of a delivery...owl?" Mey-Rin glanced at me for back up and I nodded silently.

Ciel glanced up at me in a bemused manner. "An owl?"

"As opposed to pigeons, owls can fly through storms," Bard folded his arms across his chest. "It's just like him to think of everything." His tone was admiring.

Grey frowned, sliding his gaze over to me. "What was in the letter?" _None of your business._ I shrugged, I didn't know. I hadn't looked, because it hadn't been any of my business. I trusted Sebastian.

Thunder rolled outside the window and Arthur glanced at the glass. "Maybe he sent a letter to the police," he suggested. That made sense for a normal person. Ever since the storm had struck, the telephone had been out. However, Sebastian wasn't normal, so I doubted the letter contained something as mundane as a letter to the Yard. "However, if Sebastian was the last to be killed, then the story becomes far more complex."

I turned my gaze to the author, feeling a flicker of admiration. While I had once admired him simply for his literary abilities, I know liked him for his detective-like mind that seemed far more thorough than most Yard members I had come into contact with.

"The only ones who could lock the earl's room were Mr. Phelps, as he was already inside the room, and Sebastian because he had the key," he tapped his fingers on the table in a thoughtful rhythm. "That would imply, logically, that Sebastian was the killer. However, Sebastian was killed."

Lau lifted his teacup to his lips with a smile. "Maybe the butler joined up with someone and together they committed the murders. Then, afterwards, they quarrelled over the rewards and so he was silenced." _...once again, that sounds incredibly plausible, but also far too mundane for Sebastian._ Sebastian was loyal to Ciel, if only for his soul, he wouldn't _team up_ with anyone.

_...maybe he isn't dead?_ I stiffened at the thought, and then banished it away as quickly as it had come. Why give myself false hope? It would only hurt more when they were torn away.

_What if he was faking it?_ My forehead wrinkled as I shoved the repeating idea away. _I know what I saw, and why would he fake being dead?_

_...why would he?_

"Furthermore," Ciel was speaking, and I tuned back into the conversation. "You walk around carrying a needle in those dragging sleeves of yours, do you not?"

There were collective murmurs, which turned to shouts of shock when Lau just smiled and nodded, pulling out a rather long, thin needle from his sleeve. "Yes, I am carrying one," he held it up. "It's used in oriental medicine."

"_Y-You killed Phelps!_" Woodley and Grimsby turned on him, eyes wide, scared, and angry. "_You bastard! You searched the earl's room just now, didn't you? Are you sure you weren't just destroying evidence?_"

"Oh my~," the Chinese man didn't looked worried in the least. "Aren't you being a bit too rash about this? How do you think I could have made a locked room murder from that far-off, walk-in closet? There's no door going outside there, and even though we're Chinese, it's not like we can just pass through ventilation shafts or something. Besides," he stroked Ran-Mao's shoulder. "I have an alibi for the time Lord Siemens was murdered anyway. Aw, but earl~," he grinned at Ciel. "You're such a bully~. You don't need to take revenge on me now you know."

Ciel glared at him blankly. "Do I really need to hear that from the person who suggested my confinement? Well, in any case," he took a sip of his tea. "There's no one who could have killed all three, even if they had teamed up with Sebastian. I was just teasing you."

_You have an odd definition of teasing._ "That's true!" Arthur gasped. "Look, if I put it in a simple list..." he scribbled on a piece of paper he produced from his pocket, and then held up the chart he'd drawn. It was a simple representation of our alibis, arranged with crosses to show who had, and noughts to show who didn't.

According to the chart, Ciel had no alibi for Lord Siemen; Sebastian had no alibi for Phelps, and no one had an alibi for Sebastian other than Arthur. Actually, he was the only one with an alibi for all three cases. "Even if they'd worked with Sebastian, it would be impossible for a single person to cause this string of murders!"

Woodley spoke up immediately. "If it's impossible to do alone, then the people who came in pairs are the criminals!"

Grimsby got to his feet, teeth bared in a furious snarl. "Are you kidding me?!" He yelled. "On top of being trapped in here, I'm being treated as a criminal?!" He looked ready to get violent, and the only thing holding him back from launching at the businessman was Irene.

"Calm down!" Arthur nervously tried to placate him. "I'm not saying that it's as simple as tha–"

"_Simple or not, I don't care! I've had enough!_" Fists slammed down onto the table, causing the china and silverware to jump and clatter. _Somebody's losing it._ "_Like I'd stay in this place anyway!_"

Ciel didn't even look at him when he spoke. "Where are you going to go?" He asked coolly, but mockingly. "Under these circumstances, I'd like you to refrain from acting on your own."

Woodley rounded on him, eyes wide and dilated, his teeth bared like a dog that had been backed into a corner. _Cabin fever, he's panicking._ "You're saying that to _me?! You're the one that's-!_" Ciel arched an eyebrow at him, quietly daring him to finish his sentence. The man froze, and then cracked and pointed at the young boy with a diamond-laden finger. "_I-I know! It was you who planned this all along, wasn't it?_"

Lightning cracked outside, and Ciel smiled faintly, innocently, amusedly. "I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but please calm down," he said.

"_You wanted to finish us off from the beginning, so you gathered us here!_" Woodley screamed, his voice rising in volume and increasing in its franticness. "_You, the Queen's Guard Dog!_" There was a silence after this, punctuated only by harsh pants. I noted the confused look on Arthur's face. So he had no idea who Ciel was. "I'm going home," Woodley got to his feet, refusing to turn his back to Ciel. "Like I'd let myself be killed!"

"Please wait!" The writer turned his gaze from Ciel to the other man. "It's impossible in this storm! You should stay here to avoid suspicion as-!"

He spun around and struck out blindly, landing a blow on Arthur's face and sending him crashing into the table. "_I don't take orders from a doctor!_" My eyes widened slightly, and I rose to my feet. Things were clearly going to get violent.

Ciel put his teacup back in its saucer and fixed the man with a stern, cold glare out of his one good eye. "Woodley," his voice was dark and scarily calm. "The one who's telling you to sit down is me. _So sit down already._"

The man stiffened, and he spun around, a fist raised. He was beyond all reason now, the fear having taken over his mind and body for the moment. "_Don't order me around!_"

He needed a quick, sharp shock, and I needed to hit something. I grabbed his wrist before it could come any closer and kicked his legs out from under him, sending him to the floor, and then I twisted his wrist, holding it and pressing my knee against his back in a way that was clearly uncomfortable.

"I will only give you this warning once," I told him coldly, indifferently. "No one lays a hand against the young master. My fellow servants and I do not take kindly to that. If you try that again, I will not hesitate to break your arm."

He grunted in pain and tried to rise, but my grip was too firm, and he was far too winded to do so. "Dammit, what the hell is with this place?"

"Wh-What was that?" Arthur gaped, eyes wide. I glanced at him, taking in the forming bruise on his cheek. "I didn't see her move at all!" Lau explained that it was a Japanese form known as _baritsu_.Tanaka had taught me a few basic moves the day before. Prior to that, I'd had no idea the old man could move so fast, or inflict so much pain (it had been a gruelling two hours of physical exercise).

"Thalia." I moved my eyes to my young master. "You can let him up. He'll behave now." I obeyed and rose gracefully to my feet, then retook my place beside Ciel's chair. "Well then, currently the only one who couldn't have been the criminal is Mr. Wordsmith," he put down his teacup and laced his fingers together. "I think it would be safest and fairest to put him in charge of deciding our actions from now on."

The writer jerked and stared at him with wide eyes. "M-_Me?_" He pointed at himself.

Ciel nodded. "Yes, I don't particularly want a criminal prowling around my manor." The suggestion was met with uncertain murmurs of agreement. "Then it's decided. There's plenty of time until the storm dies down anyway. Let's thoroughly corner this criminal."

He smiled, and it was the sweetest, scariest expression I'd ever seen him wear. And I, with all the rage and pain coiling in my chest, could not help mirroring it.

**...I'm having way more fun than I should writing Thalia's reactions and character now. I like this new fury-driven, cold-hearted-killer mentality she developed. **

**Also, as a Nigerian now arriving in the UK, it is cold. So very, very cold. I've lost all feeling in my fingers. Send help. **

**Please read and review! **


	40. The 14th Member

**I don't own anything, other than Thalia and her sudden bloodlust. Enjoy the chapter!**

**The 14****th**** Member**

After Woodley's violent and panicked outburst, everyone seemed far more subdued. There were no shouts and declaration of innocence while Arthur debated possible cues and steps, although that might have been because most of those had come from Woodley, and he wasn't talking at all.

The writer twisted his pen between his fingers distractedly as he eyed the papers in his hand. He would occasionally scribble something down, and then cross it out, and then he lean back to gaze thoughtfully at nothing. While he worked, I watched him approvingly. He had been the only one not screaming or freaking out or fainting since the beginning of this whole ordeal.

"The thing I'm most stuck on," he finally said. "Is the whereabouts of the key to the earl's room. According to the original scenario, the only person who killed have killed Mr. Phelps was Sebastian. However, the key might have been passed on to someone else, and that makes the situation far more complex."

"In that scenario," Ciel frowned. "Would I be right in thinking that the person who currently holds the key and killed Sebastian is the criminal?"

Gray spoke up for the first time in a while. "Well, first let's confirm whether or not the butler is carrying the key himself. Although that could end our theory entirely..." I stared at him for a moment, and then turned my gaze to the window. The sound of the raindrops had become a dull roar, a constant sound that magnified the tension in the room.

"Also," the wordsmith said. "When we move, I'd like us to move as a group. Since it would be difficult to ask a woman to accompany us to the storage room, I'd like Ms. Irene to stay here with Mr. Grimsby. Also," he now looked nervous. "I'd like Mr. Woodley to stay back too..." The man could only scoff and mutter to himself, which stopped once he saw that I was staring at him.

Lau and Ran-Mao ended up staying back as well because they wanted tea, but Gray ended up following us because he was apparently bored. Bard and Finny were employed to lead everyone down to the cellar, while Tanaka, Mey-Rin and myself were put in charge of looking after the guests.

I don't know why they bothered, since Grimsby and Irene were too nervous to say anything, and Lau had no qualms about grabbing what he needed from the coffee table. The former kept shooting me nervous glances, and I couldn't help the slightly unnerving smile that came to my lips. "Poor Ms. Maid," Lau suddenly spoke to me. "What are you going to do, now that the butler's gone?"

My eyes did not waver as I fixed him with a dead-eyed stare, still with the small curve of my mouth, a smile that moved my lips, but not my cheeks, not my eyes. Eyes that stared fixedly at whatever they had chosen to alight upon. _Why are you asking me that?_ I wondered to myself. _Do you want to know how much I want to sob, how much I want to plunge my hands into the chest of his murderer and rip out their still beating heart? Do you want to know how I think it would be so wonderful to taste their blood on my fingers and teeth?_

Once again, something in my expression must have alerted him that this was not the time to taunt me, and he turned away. After a few more seconds, so did I. Only a few minutes passed before the others returned, but with no luck. "We should check his bedroom."

This time I followed, and Ciel didn't send me back. I had never been inside Sebastian's bedroom, I hadn't cared enough to try. It was spacious, clean, and seemed barely lived-in. There was a neatly made bed in the corner, a fireplace, a desk, and a chest of drawers with a wardrobe by its side. "Let's search in places where one might keep valuables," Gray suggested. Ciel checked his desk, Bard checked the fireplace (which was easy because it was empty and recently cleaned), Finny and Arthur checked the bed and under the bed, while Gray checked his chest of drawers. Only the wardrobe was left unopened, and I walked over to the dark wooden bit of furniture.

I reached for the handle and gripped it, and opened up the wardrobe to find-!

"_Meow!_" Cats. Felines of all colours, ranging from pure white strays, to tiger-striped tabbies, pounced out of the cupboard. I yelped, because that was my initial reaction. However, once I realised what was going on, I began to laugh. I laughed and laughed, even as Ciel swore and sneezed behind me.

_He kept them in his wardrobe!_ It figured that he would do something so stupid! He loved cats so much. _So much,_ the laughter changed as moisture formed along my eyelids. _That idiot. _Several cats sidled over to me, amongst them being Morgan and Minthe. Ciel hadn't wanted us to bring them along, but I guess Sebastian hadn't been able to comply.

I scratched beneath their chins carefully and smiled when Minthe purred. "That bastard!" Ciel snarled, sneezing again. "Thalia, Finny, don't come near me while you're holding those things! My allergies are-!" He interrupted himself with another sneeze and had to be escorted out of the room by Arthur before he hurt himself.

The rest of us, after dumping the cats on Sebastian's bed and ensuring that they wouldn't leave that spot, went back to searching through the rest of the room. "Hmm," Gray hummed from where he was digging through the bottom drawer. "He really doesn't seem to have a lot of personal items," he pulled out one of the cat toys. "Isn't it good to have some things from your original home? Where did he come from anyway?"

My fingers ceased sifting through the things in Sebastian's wardrobe. _You are treading on dangerous ground._ "Who knows," Bard shrugged. "None of us servants knows where he came from, or even what he does on his days off. The thing we know is that he's ridiculously good at his job."

"Maybe the young master knows about him," Finny suggested. _I'd hope so, considering he summoned him._

"I don't know either." Ciel had come back into the room in time to overhear the last bit of the conversation. "I don't know where he came from either," he sniffed into a handkerchief. "I don't know what master he served before, or what he'd been doing in the past...I never had any interest in that. It was fine with me. Back then," his eyes became vaguely distant. "Anyone was fine...as long as they would be devoted to me and grant my wishes..."

Gray arched an eyebrow curiously. "_Back then?_" He echoed. Ciel shot him a dark glare but refused to explain.

In the end, we did not find the key in his room, and Arthur suggested checking the luggage bags of the guests. _They could always have it on their person,_ I thought internally.

Mey-Rin and I were put in charge of searching through the female side, which only included Ms. Irene, and Ran-Mao. The little Chinese girl was, for some reason, very interested in the opera singer's expensive clothes and fancy belongings.

I watched her place a wide-brimmed hat on her head, which had a feather pinned to the side. _I don't understand her, or why Lau calls her his little sister when that would be mildly incestuous, _but that wasn't any of my business. I flipped through Irene's items of clothing, and turned when she gasped.

There was a picture on her dresser, one I'd noticed it when we'd first came in, and one Mey-Rin was currently looking at. The image was of her and Grimsby, both looking pleased and happy. "Oh, I left that out," she looked embarrassed.

"I hadn't heard that you were lovers, so I was surprised yesterday," Mey-Rin said.

_It was sort of obvious though. _"I'm sorry, I don't really talk about it in public or anything," Irene blushed. "Grimsby and I have been separated for twelve years already, so it's kind of embarrassing to tell people." _Twelve years?_ Mey-Rin screamed my thought aloud, and I studied the woman quietly. She didn't look at all like the age she had revealed herself to be. "My, thank you!"

I went back to searching through her dresser, and then blinked when Mey-Rin hissed my name. She was kneeling over Irene's luggage, the one that Ran-Mao had been picking through like it was a toy box. "Thalia, look!" In her hand was a pretty bottle filled with dark red liquid. "D-Do you think this could be blood?"

_What?_ Mey-Rin's intense fascination with the occult amused me sometimes. She was probably thinking of Irene's earlier suggestion of Phelps's killer being a vampire. "Maybe," I replied indifferently, although the liquid in the bottle looked too watery to have been blood. "You could always open it and see." Blood had a distinctive smell though. There was no way Irene would have been able to transport a bottle of it around without a little of the scent slipping out, or without the components separating.

What? I have seen enough blood to know.

Suddenly, Irene squealed behind us, and Mey-Rin quickly tossed the perfume bottle into the luggage bag. "Ms. Ran-Mao, you shouldn't put that on your head!" Ran-Mao stared back, a pair of drawers atop her head like a hat.

Ran-Mao's luggage also proved to be fruitless, although I did find a lot of incredibly skimpy clothing, as well as many beautiful and ornate hairpieces. One of them was a dark red lotus piece, much like the pink one on her own head, which she picked up silently attached to my own hair. I blinked once, twice, but didn't comment.

After our search, we all returned to the main room. "It wasn't there after all," Arthur sighed, slumping on the couch.

Ciel exhaled a puff of air. "Even with all this," he said. "Sebastian could have hidden it somewhere else."

"That," Lau agreed. "Or he could have thrown it out of the window. Since it's so small, if it was carried off or buried in this storm, we aren't going to find it."

At any rate, it wasn't like we particularly needed the key. Even if it was out there, and we did find it, it wouldn't tell us much about whoever the killer was. "Excuse me!" Finny suddenly spoke up, drawing out attention to him. His eyes were firm, and his shoulders were squared. "I'm going to search outside!"

"I-I'm going too!" Mey-Rin added. I blinked at them, but remained in the same spot.

Ciel stared at them with wide eyes, and then he huffed. "Certainly finding it would give us some clues to the killer, but you don't have to go so out of your–"

"_I want to help solve this case!_" Finny's voice was loud, surprising me, surprising everyone. He looked ready to cry. "Because I'm dumb, I can't find the killer by thinking it over like the young master. But, if it's a key, I might be able to find it. If the key can lead to solving this even a little, then I want to find it!"

He gritted his teeth and spun to run out of the room, followed by Mey-Rin. Bard ran after them, calling after them to come back.

Ciel looked like he wanted to stop them, and then he leaned back and rested his chin on his fist. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "You're not going to help them?" He asked after a few seconds.

I ran a finger over the wooden top of his armchair, and then rested my palm against it. "They won't find it," I replied evenly. "Not in this weather." Then I straightened and followed Tanaka out of the room and into the kitchen. "Idiots," I muttered quietly as I watched the dark clouds roll past. "They're going to kill themselves." Something darted outside the window in my field of vision and I glanced down. _What was that?_

It was most likely some poor animal that had been caught out in the storm. "Then shouldn't we bring them back in?" Tanaka held out one of the umbrellas towards me. The smile he gave me was fatherly, and it made me want to cry. "He wouldn't want you to cry, would he?"

_No,_ I mustered up a quick smile in return. _I suppose not._ Who knew? I didn't. What did Sebastian want me to do? Cry, probably. Maybe swear a terrifyingly bloody revenge. _Well, I've done those,_ I pushed open the back door of the kitchen and braced myself against the gale. The rain came down in large, freezing drops, soaking me in spite of the umbrella.

None of them had gotten very far, and we found them in the garden, kneeling on the ground. Bard was kneeling in front of them, his voice carrying through the storm. "It was so that when worst came to worst, when he wasn't around any more, the mansion would still have protection, right? That's why there's only one thing we should be doing right now!"

"Indeed there is," Tanaka answered. I held the umbrella over Finny and Mey-Rin as best as I could, protecting them from the worst of the rain. "Please go inside and I will pour some hot tea. Also," he sighed once we were inside and everyone was nursing a cup of hot, freshly brewed, milk tea. "It seems we have a bit of a problem." We were running low on supplies. "It seems that the portion Sebastian prepared is not going to last us three days, seeing as Master Gray eats quite a lot."

I scoffed under my breath and pressed the towel firmly against Finny's soaked hair, rubbing him dry. "He's just a pig," I said callously. "He ate an entire dinner's worth of curry because he was _a little hungry_." The sarcasm was evident in my voice.

"THE POT'S EMPTY!" Bard yelled. "YOU DON'T CALL THIS _A LITTLE HUNGRY!_"

"Yes, it is troubling," Tanaka glanced at the meagre amount of vegetables and raw materials we had left. There was no more meat left, and our supplies were dwindling rather quickly. If this kept up, we'd run out of food by tomorrow morning, or even tonight. _And then everyone might actually lose it._

Mey-Rin clenched her fists. "If Mr. Sebastian were here..." she trailed off, but we all knew what she meant: if Sebastian were here, he would know how to increase the food, he would make something fantastic out of something so paltry.

"He is not here anymore," Tanaka replied. "We cannot rely on him forever. Did he not often say, _what would happen if a Phantomhive family servant couldn't even overcome a crisis?_"

"_Yes sir!_" Tanaka's words were what they'd needed to hear. The response was immediate, firm, and then they began debating how to make the food last. "Maybe if we chopped it up into pieces?" Bard suggested.

"They'd notice," Mey-Rin pointed out. "We could mix it with something, we could..."

"The only thing we have in abundance are soybeans," I countered. We lapsed into silence, thinking it over, until there was the sudden sound of someone banging on the kitchen door. I started and turned to the door. "What the-?" The storm was still raging badly. Why would anyone brave such a storm to come here?

_Maybe someone contacted the police...?_ I thought of Sebastian's owl.

_Or, it could be the killer, or something else equally dangerous._ At that, my eyes narrowed into slits and I rose to my feet, my hands going to my back for my knives. Mey-Rin already had a gun in each hand, and her glasses were resting on her hair.

Tanaka held a finger to his lips, motioning for us to be quiet, and quietly grasped the doorknob and twisted it carefully.

The second the door opened, I was moving before anyone else could. If this was the person who had killed my love, then I wanted to be the one to take him down. I yanked the person inside and knocked him to the ground, forcing his arms up and behind his back in a painful hold. "Move, and I'll break your arm so badly you won't be able to fix it," I told him darkly.

"Finny, get some rope," Bard ordered, moving closer. "Thalia, keep a good hold on him." I nodded, he hadn't needed to say anything. Finny returned with the rope and, in a moment, he and Mey-Rin had tied the man tightly so that he couldn't move. "Alright, let's see him." I flipped him over and yanked him to his feet so that we could see his face.

...I did not know him. The man was tall, slim, with broad shoulders. His face held wrinkles, giving a sign of his age, and his eyes were narrow. His hair was black and slicked back off his face with enough oil to make it appear shiny, or maybe that was just the rain. He smiled round at us like all of this was perfectly normal and expected.

I did not like him.

"My, as expected from the Phantomhive family," his eyes alighted on me and lit up for some reason. I stared back coldly, and returned my knives to their proper places.

Finny and Bard dragged him to the tea room and threw open the door, interrupting whatever conversation had been occurring before. "Young master, we caught some suspicious-looking guy!" they announced as they tossed him into the room. His appearance was greeted with shock.

"Wha-? _He was real?!_" Gray yelled. "Where on earth was he hiding?!"

"So, this is the killer?!" I arched an eyebrow, had they been debating the presence of a 14th person before we found this man?

Lau removed the pipe from his mouth and smiled around a breath of smoke. "To think that the 14th guest would show up this soon," he rose to his feet. "Even I am a little surprised," he walked over to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder, his mysterious and knowing expression disappearing quickly. "So, who're you again?"

I resisted the urge to slap my palm to my forehead. _This again? _

The man smiled a little calculatingly, like he knew something we didn't. "My name?" He asked, his eyes flickering elsewhere for a moment.

To my surprise, and everyone else's, Ciel got up and nodded cordially to the bound man. "It's been a while, Jeremy."

_Jeremy? _Lau blinked and glanced at Ciel. "Earl, is this old guy a friend of yours?" The man frowned and muttered something under his breath.

"Y-Yeah," Ciel replied, and I wondered why he'd stuttered. "This man is Father Jeremy Rathbone," he introduced. "He is a popular advisor to the local church, and somewhat of a famous person." _Then why does no one know him?_ The room was filled with famous people.

Woodley snarled and pointed a finger at him. "Like I'd trust a suspicious-looking guy like you!" He accused. "The only one who could have committed the murders is the 14th person without an alibi! No matter how you look at it, it has to be this guy!"

Water dripped from Jeremy's chin when he turned his smile on Woodley. "Actually, your reasoning is utter nonsense, Mr. Woodley."

The man started and took a step backwards, unnerved by his knowledge and the knowing expression on his face. "How did you know my name?!"

"Looking at your rings, it's quite obvious," he replied easily, and then he suddenly leaned closer to the factory owner. "The only place you'd be able to mine a large diamond like that would be South Africa. Furthermore," he continued. "The only way you'd be able to get the special, round, brilliant cut this diamond has, is with the latest polishing machinery developed by the Woodley Company."

The more he spoke, the more I felt as though there was something familiar about him. There was something oddly recognizable in his smart-aleck tenor of voice, in his manner of appearing smarter, and far ahead of everyone else around him.

Jeremy Rathbone smirked at the end of his thorough explanation of his examination. "Am I wrong?" Woodley scowled and retreated, mumbling under his breath. Arthur stepped forward and began babbling out questions, causing the older man to frown and huff. "Sheesh, nothing but questions. Hey, you," he turned to Bard. "Would you mind opening my bag?"

The briefcase was unclipped and opened to reveal the owl I'd released the night before. It was lying on its side, its eyes shut. "I-Is it dead?" Mey-Rin asked hesitantly.

"No," Jeremy replied. "But it was resisting so I had to put it to sleep for a little while. It will wake up soon." _Poor bird, _I took the bag from Bard and stroked my fingers over the damp, tawny feathers, feeling the bird's heartbeat against my fingers. "Please look at the letter at its claw."

Ciel walked over to me and untied the tiny letter compartment attached to its leg. Inside was a small strip of paper, which he unrolled. "What does it say?" I asked. His eyes scanned over it briefly, and then darkened.

"It seems that he anticipated that he would be killed and sent a letter to Jeremy," he crushed the paper and shoved it into his pocket.

_He knew he would die? _I frowned, feeling confusion rear up from underneath the sadness and anger. Why was I confused? Well because all of this seemed far too human, and Sebastian was anything but. Only something inhuman could have taken him down. "But you can't prove that he isn't the killer with just a piece of paper!" Grimsby argued, cutting into my thoughts. "If he came from outside, he could just as well have committed last night's murders!"

"Actually," Jeremy sighed. "I have a simple solution to your lack of confidence. If you would check my coat pocket..."

As he said that, he glanced at me like he wanted _me _to do the honours. I shot him a look that clearly said _fuck off. _Instead, Finny moved over and stuck a hand in the pocket of his coat. From the receptacle he pulled out a small, wrinkled bit of paper. "It's a ticket? A ticket for a play," he told us. At Ciel's probing, he expanded. "The play happened yesterday. It's for the evening show of March 12th. The place and program are um...the la...the la-"

"_The_ _Lady of the Lake_ at the Lyceum theatre," Jeremy supplied. Irene spoke up, confirming that _The_ _Lady of the Lake_ was indeed playing at the moment. "Indeed, I went to the Lyceum theatre in London last night. The play ended after 10 p.m. Even if I took a hansom cab and threw the driver a sovereign, it would still take over two hours to get here.

"Of course," he smiled, though it looked more like a smirk. "There _are _countless other ways of getting here. Walking or swimming for example, though those aren't really ways I'd recommend for _normal_ human beings."

The emphasis he'd placed on the word _normal _had been odd, like he was implying something. I blinked at him silently, and narrowed my eyes when he smirked back at me. "In other words," Arthur prompted. "You are saying that you could not have been involved in the killings because you were in London last night, am I right?"

The father nodded. "As expected of a master novelist," he commented. "Thank you for speeding up the conversation." At Arthur's confused expression, he smirked and leaned closer to him. "You can find out a lot about people's jobs and the like from examining their looks and habits you know."

When he'd done it to Woodley, I hadn't minded because Woodley had needed someone to shock him into calming down so that he wouldn't begin flinging accusations again. However, Arthur was just a sweet, innocent bystander, and he was the only one who actually seemed to be working towards finding the killer. Everyone else had just been yelling (Woodley and Grimsby), sitting in a meek silence (Irene), or making useless suggestions (Lau).

I wasn't counting Ran-Mao, because she didn't speak much anyway.

"Well, now that your doubts should have lifted, would you mind getting these ropes off me?" He glanced down at the ropes binding him a bit disdainfully. "It seems that the air around this mansion is heavy with the smell of a crime that will rid me of my boredom." The guests murmured uncomfortably to one another, and Ciel nodded at me. I rolled my eyes and flicked a knife out of my boot, slashing through the ropes easily. "Ah, thank you," he smiled at me.

I ignored him and shoved the blade back into its place, and returned to my place by Ciel's seat. Jeremy took a seat across from Ciel's, and Arthur recounted the events leading up to the present.

He nodded, fingers pressed together to form a steeple under his chin. "I see," he said at the end. "That is very interesting. In that case, could I first see the bodies? They will eloquently tell me nothing but the truth."

Arthur nodded and began to rise. "Very well, let's go to the basement wine cellar together..."

"Stop!" He jerked and stared at the father. Rathbone held up a finger. "I would like you to move each of the bodies to a separate room. The scent might be a clue to the crime. If we put the bodies together, their scents would interfere with each other. Also," he raised his eyebrows. "The cellar has a strong scent of wine. On that note," he turned to Ciel. "Could you lend me three rooms earl?"

Ciel looked faintly surprised, but he nodded and stood. "That would be fine, I suppose. You four," he ordered the servants and I. "Divide the bodies over three rooms." We nodded and left the room to make our way to the basement wine cellar.

The lantern in Bard's hand was the only light that we had, and it cast golden circles of light across the walls and floor of the narrow corridor. "What's with that guy?" He scowled. "Showing up like that and acting all important! Even though he's a priest, he acts more like a policeman." I couldn't help agreeing that Father Jeremy Rathbone was, indeed, a very strange person.

"Yeah, but..." Finny's lowered his head a bit. He sounded thoughtful, childlike. "I get the feeling he'll be able to do something about this for sure. I feel like we can trust that man."

I stared at him, at the steadfast and innocent look in his eyes, and I smiled slightly. "Alright," I placed a hand on his head and ran my fingers briefly through his hair.

Bard scoffed and grabbed the handle of the cellar door. "You'll just get hurt if you trust people too much, you know," he lectured. Mey-Rin nodded in agreement. The cellar smelled heavily of wine and apples. The three covered bodies in the middle were illuminated by the light of the chandelier above.

Something squeezed painfully in my chest when I pulled away the cloth covering Sebastian and stared into his face. He was so beautiful, even in death, he was still perfect. "Sebastian, we'll be moving you now." We moved him to one of the guest rooms. "Hey," I called from where I was kneeling beside his corpse. "Do you guys think you could give me some time?"

The three of them stared at me blankly, and then Bard frowned. "We can't leave you by yourself," he replied. "It'd look suspicious."

"Please," I stared at him. "Just a second, _please_."

Mey-Rin placed a hand on his shoulder, and he exhaled softly. "Ten seconds," he warned me, and then they stepped out of the room. The door didn't shut entirely, so I was certain they were watching me through the crack, but I paid it no heed.

_You're such an idiot,_ I caressed his cheek with my fingers, and then leaned down and pressed my lips to his own still, unmoving ones. "But one that I absolutely love," I whispered. The door creaked open, and if any of them had seen what I'd done, they didn't say anything. Mey-Rin slipped her fingers into mine and squeezed gently. I squeezed back.

**The angst is strong within this arc. I'M SO SORRY THALIA, BUT THE YANA-SENSEI DICTATES THIS STUFF! **

**Please read and review!**


	41. A Study in Scarlet

**I do not own Kuroshitsuji in any way, shape, or form. Yana-sensei does, and she is perfect for creating this (and Sebastian, and Undertaker *fans self*)**

**A Study in Scarlet**

By the time we returned to the room, Jeremy had dried himself and changed into Sebastian's old clothes. For a moment, I wondered at how the outfit seemed to fit his body so perfectly, but I chose to ignore it and brush the notion off as a coincidence. "Well then," he clapped his hands together. "I'd like you to show me the bodies in the order that they were killed."

"We'll start from Lord Siemens then," Arthur said.

"I'll come too," Gray waved his hand. He had been oddly quiet since Rathbone's appearance, but apparently this had perked him up. I didn't say a word, I just stood beside Ciel and silently dared any of them to cite my gender as a reason and say I couldn't come along. They didn't, and if they cared that I was following, they didn't let on.

Siemen's corpse was studied first, and I stared at the body quietly, intensely. "Hmm," Rathbone hummed from where he was kneeling by his side. "The only external trauma is the wound on his chest," he reported. "A single stab with a sharp-edged blade, it would seem." I frowned and mentally brought up the image in my mind of when Sebastian and I had first found him.

_That makes no sense,_ I frowned faintly, but did not voice my concerns. _When I first saw him, there was no stab mark anywhere on his chest._

Dark or not, a wound big enough to spill that much blood could not be missed, although did depend on how sharp and/or thin the blade used was. Besides, the room hadn't carried the unmissable, coppery scent of newly spilled blood. You can trust me when I say that I knew _exactly _what freshly spilled blood smelled like. "He was quite the violent drinker in his lifetimes, wasn't he?" Rathbone commented.

I blinked and returned my focus to the man. "How do you know?" Gray asked. Rathbone straightened and held up Siemen's pocket watch.

"This is an expensive pocket watch," he explained. "But the area around the winding keyhole is full of scratches. You would only do this if you were a very crude person, or frequently drunk. Apart from that," he shut his eyes and sniffed the air above the corpse. "There is a strong scent of alcohol, proof that he was drinking strong liquor up until the moment before his death...hm?"

He suddenly inhaled deeply and frowned. "What's wrong?" Ciel asked.

The priest cocked his head to the side, but didn't open his eyes. "There is a faint smell of the sea..."

"The sea?" Arthur repeated.

"That's right doctor," he leaned back and turned to face him. "Do you happen to carry a handkerchief?"

Arthur blinked in confusion, but nodded. "Ah, yes I do," he dug a clean, folded white handkerchief from his coat pocket and held it out. "Here you are."

Rathbone accepted the pristine fabric with a nod of thanks, and then he shoved the fabric into Siemen's mouth, ignoring the writer's screech of surprise. "Hmm," he sniffed the handkerchief, and then handed it back to Arthur. "Well then, that concludes that," he spun around without a look back. "Next was Mr. Phelps, right?"

_...that is disgusting._ I walked over to the novelist and offered a sympathetic nod. "You might as well throw it away," I told him quietly. The bruise on his face was a splotchy, yellow-purple colour, and I frowned. "Would you like me to apply something to that?" The soft flush on his cheeks made me want to pat him on the head, much like I'd done to Finny. He shook his head quickly, shyly, and I shrugged and turned away. "Well, if you say so."

When I passed by Rathbone, however, he glared down at me with an expression of displeasure. I stared back at him for a mildly curious second, and then I shrugged his gaze off and leaned against the wall of the room. Phelps lay in the centre of the room on a white sheet. "He was the only one killed by a different means from the other too," Arthur explained as Jeremy examined the body. "At the time of the murder, the only exits and entrances were locked, making it a locked room situation."

"I see," Rathbone caressed the neck of the corpse. "Could you show me the room he died in?"

"Yes, I'll take you there." Phelps had died in Ciel's bedroom, which was one floor up. It was odd how much larger, and ominous the mansion seemed now, what with the muffled sound of the storm raging outside, and the events that had occurred. "Mr. Jeremy is sharp-eyed," Arthur commented from the front of the procession.

_Speaking of Mr. Rathbone,_ I paused and glanced behind me. "Hm?" Gray noticed that I'd stopped walking and turned round. "Huh," he frowned. "That old guy's not following us any more."

Ciel frowned and stared down the staircase. "Jeremy?"

Silence, and then the sound of muffled footsteps grew louder. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he reappeared at the bottom of the flight, mopping at his face and brow with a handkerchief. "I'm sorry for being late. Let's go." I cocked an eyebrow at him, and then kept walking.

The door of Ciel's room was still broken apart, the wood dangling from its hinges, courtesy of me. The three of us stood to the side while Jeremy studied the room, especially the bed, with a magnifying glass. As he moved, I studied him intently. There was something ridiculously familiar about him, and it annoyed me that I couldn't say why.

Mentally, I listed out everything I had noticed about him. _His mocking demeanour, his intelligence, his incredibly strong sense of smell, the odd way he keeps watching me from the corner of his eye when he thinks I'm not aware, the fact that he fits perfectly into Sebastian's clothes... _

The last one made me pause, and I frowned internally. "It seems there are several killers in this crime." Everyone looked stunned by this revelation, apart from me. I was still too into my thoughts to react to his declaration. "It will be quite simple to catch Georg's killer," he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "But it will be quite troublesome to catch Phelps' killer. In order to avoid any further victims, we should endeavour to catch this criminal soon. No human will be able to get out in this storm anyway."

There he went again, that strange way he added emphasis on the word _human_.

"In order to catch Phelps' killer, there are two requirements," he laced his fingers together and smiled. "One is to wait for nightfall. The second is the earl's cooperation, and the maid."

My eyes narrowed warily, and Ciel just looked confused and mildly suspicious. "Mine?" He asked.

Rathbone nodded. "Yes, yours. I'll tell you everything when night has fallen."

"Well, next up is the butler right?" Gray piped up. "Let's go back." _That's right,_ I realised. If this man really was who I thought he was, then I'd find out soon enough. Amazing though Sebastian was, he couldn't exist in two places at once (or, he _could_ and I just never knew).

Even though I had prepared myself for the inevitable, I still felt a sharp jab of pain when I saw a cloth-covered corpse in the middle of the room. Jeremy walked over to the body and grasped the sheet. "I believe you told me that the butler was stabbed to death after being hit. In that case..." he began to peel back the fabric.

At that moment Ciel suddenly staggered backwards with a choking sound. I caught him quickly by his shoulders and steadied him. "Ci-Young master, are you alright?" Arthur and Gray tore their eyes away from what Rathbone was doing.

"I'm sorry," Ciel grabbed my wrist and covered his one eye with his hand as though shielding them from the sight. "Seeing Sebastian's corpse so many times..." he clung to me. "It's just too much for me..."

Alright, I'm pretty sure you are all very aware of this, but Ciel _never_ clings to _anyone_. As much as he likes me, he would _never_ voluntarily _cling_ to my skirt or my hands, and announce that the sight of a dead body upset him for all to hear. Even if the dead body in question was his butler.

_A distraction._ "It seems that the butler was actually killed very simply," Rathbone drew the sheet back over the body before any of us could turn back around.

Gray frowned and turned back around. "You're done already?" _A distraction._ I glanced down at Ciel, and saw that he had already composed himself. He caught me staring at him and looked away. _What are you hiding?_

"Yes," he replied. "I've seen enough." He smirked, and I was sure that his eyes slid over to me briefly, and then he looked away. _What are you both hiding?_

For some reason, the queen's ambassador looked annoyed by his answer, and then he shrugged and laced his fingers behind his head. "It's almost dinnertime, isn't it? What's on the menu?" Ciel shrugged and suggested asking the servants. "No, never mind," he called over his shoulder as he left the room. "I'll be looking forward to it."

I stared after him, and then I curtsied. "I will go ask about the dinner preparations." About the dinner preparations, we still had little to no food left. For some reason, the only thing we had in absolute abundance was soybeans.

"Well, why don't we head back too?" Rathbone's voice followed me as I turned a corner. A flash of white passed by my field of vision, and my head snapped to the side to see what it was. Nothing, the corridor was empty. _Odd,_ I stood there for a few more seconds, and then I shook my head and kept going.

I shoved away the part of me that was certain that I'd heart an unmistakable voice whispering to me. _I'm still here, Thalia._

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Do you think that old guy really will be able to find the culprit?" Mey-Rin asked. The four of us were in the kitchen. On the table before us lay the scanty amount of food we'd dug out from the pantry.

I shrugged and grabbed one of the four onions remaining in the basket. "Probably," I tossed it up and caught it repeatedly in the same hand. "He seems very efficient. Although, that really isn't the main problem here."

Bard nodded. "Our main problem is this. What are we going to do for today's dinner? We don't even have any more meat or fish to serve as the main dish!"

"We could always feed them soup," I suggested. In the days when I used to live on the streets, the paltry vegetables on the table in front of me would have looked like a feast. Still, rich people and nobles clearly weren't used to making do with what was available. No, things had to conform to them.

The chef actually seemed to be considering my suggestion, until someone knocked on the door. "It better not be that guy in white again," Bard growled.

Mey-Rin whimpered. "Let's just pretend to be out..."

"Out where?" I asked sarcastically. "Why don't we just open the door and tell him to leave?"

The redhead looked scandalized by my suggestion. "Th-Thalia! That would be incredibly rude! And to someone of such status-!"

I stared at her silently as she continued to ramble, and considered whether or not I would feel bad if I were to temporarily gag her until she shut up. The person knocked again, and then spoke. "You _are_ in there, aren't you?" Rathbone. "Won't you open the door?"

Since it wasn't Gray, Finny opened the door and allowed him in. Mey-Rin promptly stopped talking, and turned to face him. "Is there something you would like?" She asked politely.

I tossed the onion up and caught it again. "If you're looking for food, there's none to spare," I told him curtly, earning a shocked screech from the redhead. "What? It's true."

He smiled with amusement. "I haven't come to gather such things but..." he suddenly frowned. "More importantly, are you saying that you're out of provisions?"

Mey-Rin blushed and poked her fingers together nervously. "I'm embarrassed to say, pastor," she stammered. "But so many things have happened so..."

"The guy in white eats like a pig so we ran out of food quickly," I dropped the onion, and blinked when Mey-Rin screeched at me again. "What? Why do you keep yelling at me? He ate the curry that was supposed to last three days!"

Jeremy smiled again, and then schooled his features. "I see. And so you're in trouble for tonight's menu?"

"The only thing we have in excess are soybeans, and the only thing you can make with that is bean soup," Bard gestured to the large barrel of white beans in the corner. "But if we serve that as the main dish, the young master's reputation will be destroyed."

Jeremy nodded, apparently deep in thought. "Yes, that is quite a problem," he murmured, and then he glanced at Finny. "Wasn't there a herb garden here?"

_How did you-? _"Yes," Finny replied. "Mr. Sebastian planted a lot of them."

"Excellent!" He beamed. "It's a great help if we've got lots of herbs!" At our confused expressions, he explained. "Herbs don't just have their own unique flavours, some also have medicinal properties. Amongst these, there are many herbs that can be used to stifle hunger. For example, fennel. If you use something like that in the food, you'll be able to reduce the overall consumption."

_Huh, knowledge. I must remember to find a book on that later. _

"Furthermore," he turned to Mey-Rin and I. "If you've got soybeans, then you can make soy meat."

We blinked. "Soy meat?" Mey-Rin repeated. _What is that?_ I wondered.

"It's an imitation meat that's made entirely from soybeans," he answered. "It's a little difficult to make, but if you manage to prepare it well then no one will be able to tell that its really soybeans," he glanced at the large barrel in the corner of the room that held the white beans. "With such an amount of soybeans, you should be able to make Hamburg steaks for thirty people."

There were squeals of shock and excitement from this revelation, and while my companions fawned over Rathbone, I stood there and watched him. How had he known about the herb garden? Especially one that Sebastian had planted. Had he been to the mansion before? Had it been sometime before I'd arrived?

He clapped his hands together, much like a butler would. "Rather than go on praising me, I'd like you to get a move on! There's little time left until dinner, and you'll have to cook a large amount of soybeans so you'd better hurry!"

"I'll go pick the herbs!"

"I'll cook the beans for the main dish!"

"I'll go pick the wine with Mr. Tanaka and Tha-! AH!" Mey-Rin gasped so suddenly that we all turned to stare at her in worry. "I-I-I just remembered something! Back when Thalia and I were checking the baggage, I found something!"

"Something weird?" Jeremy echoed.

She nodded jerkily. "Miss Irene was carrying a bottle with a dark red liquid in it," she revealed. "The young master and the others were talking about a vampire after they saw Mr. Phelps' body..."

Rathbone hummed quietly to himself and nodded. "I see," he said. "I'm actually intrigued."

"It also seems that lady Irene is twelve years older than master Keane," she paused while Bard and Finny grappled to get their heads around that fact. "So I thought that she might look so young and beautiful because she was a vampire, but..."

Finny gulped and took a step backwards. "If she's a vampire, she can probably walk through walls, right?"

"That's ghosts, Finny," I replied dully. "And that's just a fairytale."

The pastor chuckled and folded his arms around his chest. "Of course I haven't met a vampire myself, but I think I can guess what that liquid is. I'll tell you tonight," he turned to leave. "But you should all focus on making dinner right now. I'll help," he shrugged off Sebastian's jacket and passed by me on his way to the ingredients. "If we don't hurry, night will be upon us, along with _all the unworldly creatures it allows to infest the world_."

* * *

oOo

* * *

My opinion on Rathbone was growing stronger with every minute. There were far too many strings and links for my concerns to have been nothing, but I had yet to tie it all together.

He was a fantastic cook. The way he zipped about the kitchen, calling out orders, and snapping at Bard not to put dynamite in the sauce, made me think of someone else. Someone I missed and cared for, and who I'd never said anything of the sort to.

On another note, the soy meat turned out wonderfully. It looked just like actual Hamburg steak, and the sauce that Jeremy had prepared to go with it smelled heavenly. Mey-Rin served the food while I poured the wine. When I leaned over to pour Rathbone's wine into his glass, he lifted his head and smiled at me. He'd been doing that far too often, the smiling I mean, and it was beginning to annoy me. It was far to knowing, and secretive.

His height, however, meant that his face was only three inches away from mine. "Thank you, Thalia." I flinched when he said my name, although I'm not exactly sure why, but managed not to spill any of the wine from the decanter. Strangely, I saw Ciel glaring at him rather pointedly, before going back to his food.

Apart from that, dinner went smoothly enough, with the fake meat being a success. Gray ate about twelve helpings, which really made me wonder how much he would have eaten if we hadn't added fennel to the mixture. "Today's Hamburg steak wasn't greasy at all," Grimsby praised. "I could have gone on eating forever. As to be, the meat used by the Phantomhive family is something else."

"Thank you," Ciel accepted the compliment with a small smile. I stood behind his chair with my fingers interlocked and in front of me.

Lau pulled out the napkin he'd tucked into the collar of his Chinese-style outfit. "Well then, now that we're all full, why don't you finally let us in on the truth of those incidents?"

The atmosphere dampened, but not by much. The pastor dabbed at his lips with his own napkin, and then set it on his plate. "Let's not be hasty," he replied amusedly. "There are still some things I want to prepare before that. Will you lend me your assistance earl, and your maid?"

Ciel paused eating. "...yes," he replied cautiously, his eyes darting to me briefly. "What should we do?"

"Well then, both of you," he smiled innocently. "Please take off your clothes."

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that ensued, and then a scream from Ciel. "_WHAT?_" I believe I was too surprised by the randomness of the question to reply.As soon as I realised exactly what he'd asked, my eyes narrowed into a dark glare.

_I'm not stripping._

oOo

In the end, I ended up stripping anyway.

Actually, I ended up changing out of my maid uniform and donning Ciel's jacket and one of his shirts, both of which barely covered anything important. After some yelling and arguing, and a few minor threats, I'd been allowed to don my black stockings, which helped to not make me feel so naked (at some point, I was going to have to thank Lau for them. Even if I didn't like him).

One of the weirdest thing about my being half-naked, was that Ran-Mao seemed to gravitate towards me. I had forgotten that I was still wearing the red-rose hair accessory she'd given me from her box. Lau had then appeared out of nowhere and started cooing about how sweet it was that Ran-Mao liked me, and why couldn't I just take him up on his offer?

I'd had to restrain myself from punching him in the face.

"_Listen carefully, Thalia..._" I curled up further with my knees to my chin and my eyes open in spite of the darkness. "_Just be patient and sit quietly. Do not move a muscle until I tell you to. The killer will most certainly come to the earl's bed tonight. However, we don't know from where he will appear, so don't lose focus._"

_Don't lose focus, huh? _Great. Now my life was dependent on a man who I disliked, simply because he reminded me far too much of Sebastian. It's sad that he'd had to die before I realised that he was special to me in some strange way. It could have been the Mate thing, probably.

Speaking of which, why hadn't I gone mad with grief? Or, maybe I had, and this was just my sort of madness: calm with a simmering undertone of bloodlust for his killer. Perfect. I didn't need to become chaotic to be classified as _insane_, did I?

Something moved, and my ears twitched and strained in the direction of the sound. It got closer, closer, a low whispering rustle, like something being dragged across the plush carpet. I couldn't hear any footsteps, just that low, continuous shuffle. Suddenly, something brushed against my leg and coiled, moving higher, higher...

"Now!"

I shoved the duvet to the side and simultaneously kicked upwards, sending the heavy, downy cover falling whoever it was. "Gotcha!" I heard Gray yell, and he might have accidentally (or otherwise) skewered me, or at least badly scarred me, if Rathbone hadn't magically intercepted the blade of his sword with the short-handled broom used to sweep out the ashes from the fireplace in the room. "What the-?"

"You could have hurt the maid," he replied easily, although his voice wasn't. "At any rate, this is an important witness. We'd be in trouble if you killed them." I sat up and covered my legs and chest with a pillow. However, contrary to my calm demeanour, my blood and skin hissed and steamed with new energy.

_Sebastian's killer..._

It was too bad I'd had to drop most of my knives when I'd changed, but I still had a few small ones on hand. I could bleed him dry, cut by cut. Now, if I could just get them all to leave...

"The two of you should return to the main room," Rathbone shot me amused little quirk of his mouth. "We'll tidy up here."

_What's that supposed to mean?_ I was about to argue, but Ciel spoke up before I could. "Let's go, Thalia." His tone left no room for argument, and I grabbed the bed sheet to drape around my shoulders. At any rate, I suppose it was for the best. The lecherous way that Jeremy kept staring at me was beginning to freak me out. Arthur had been a gentleman about it, blushing sweetly and avoiding looking anywhere awkward.

As for Charles...I had ignored Charles.

We walked down the corridor to the main room in silence, and when we arrived, we mobbed by the other guests who babbled questions. Bard took one look at me and blinked. "What are you _wearing_?"

I arched an eyebrow at him and clicked my tongue in sarcastic concern. "I'm sorry, did _you_ want to act as killer bait?"

A few minutes later, Tanaka appeared, followed by Gray and Arthur. Rathbone was probably somewhere behind them, as was the killer. "We brought the killer along," Gray announced, eliciting a scared scream from Irene. _Calm down woman, he's been detained._ "Come on, then!"

Rathbone appeared in the doorway with the killer in tow. "Here you are," he smiled. "_This_ is the killer."

The _killer_ turned out to be a metre long snake with ebony black scales. Rathbone had tied the reptile into a knot, preventing it from moving. "A _snake_?!" Woodley yelled. "That's ridiculous!"

"It's hard to believe, I know," Arthur said, nodding in my direction. "But it really came after the young lady wearing the earl's clothes."

Eyes turned to me. "You're wearing the young master's clothes?" Bard eyed me up and down as though trying to see through the sheet. I froze him with a look.

"No, I enjoy wearing bed sheets for the hell of it," I replied. "Although, I can see why you wear stuff this short," I turned to Ran-Mao. "It's comfortable. And easy to move in." She nodded silently, and then attached herself to my arm. "...okay then."

Rathbone cleared his throat. "To compensate for their lack of sight, snakes have a highly developed sense of smell and hearing," he lectured. "That's why they are able to find prey in the dark through sound vibrations and smell. In other words," he gazed round at us. "This snake was probably trained by being fed right after it was exposed to the earl's scent."

A simple trick, really, the same thing was used when training dogs. If the killer had used a snake for Phelps' murder, then he wouldn't need a key or an alibi. All he or she would need to do was release the snake into one of the vents and wait for it to find its target. That target happened to be Ciel.

Unfortunately, someone else had been sleeping in the earl's bed that night.

"This is a black mamba," Rathbone studied the black scales of the snake. "They inhabit South Africa and possess a strong neurotoxin. The victim will inevitably die within one hour of being bitten. It also possesses special characteristics: it is the one of the world's fastest snake, and it excels at climbing trees. Truly it is the perfect snake for a murder."

"A snake is still a snake though," I sighed. "It obviously couldn't tell that the person in the bed was not the earl." As long as the target smelled enough like the scent it had been trained with, then it would go ahead and attack.

Arthur's eyes widened. "I see...for the criminal, the fact that the earl was sleeping elsewhere was an unexpected development."

And the unfortunate person that had been sleeping there instead was Patrick Phelps. "I figured it would probably show up again when it got hungry," Rathbone stared down at the snake. "So we stood guard, and it appeared as expected," he suddenly turned to me. "We were lucky that we had this young lady that could wear the earl's clothes and take his place. She is dedicated, as a Phantomhive servant should be."

_This coat is ridiculously tight. My breasts are killing me._ "In an emergency situation, the earl wouldn't have been able to avoid the attack," Lau grinned. "If the earl died, we'd be in trouble. At least your maid protected you. Right, Ran-Mao?"

The Chinese doll nodded. She was _still_ hanging onto my shoulder. "Tight?" She asked. I nodded, because my breasts were beginning to ache and _dammit why couldn't I have been a tiny bit flatter?_ Maybe I would be a tiny bit flatter by the end of this. She suddenly left my side and embraced Ciel tightly. "Glad you're safe."

"WHA-?!" He flailed in her grip like an octopus, or a frantic and socially-awkward human being. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THALIA!" I sighed and walked over to separate the two of them, and then I lead the girl back to Lau. "In any case," Ciel coughed and tried to will away the redness of his face. "I was made to wear the butler's coat to hide my scent."

Rathbone grinned. "Isn't it great how it hid your entire body?"

"_You just don't know when to stop talking, do you?_"

"However, it's illegal to transport poisonous snakes on trading ships," Arthur informed us. "I used to work as a doctor on a boat that sailed the African sea course. The luggage is checked quite thoroughly."

"Which means it was smuggled," Lau stroked his chin. "Bribing a privately managed freight ship is probably the easiest way."

"Indeed," Ciel said. "You'd need close connections with an African business."

A business that dealt in African goods. What was Africa famous for? _Gold, oil, diamonds..._

Almost immediately, all eyes turned to Woodley. He staggered backwards, eyes darting from face to face. "N-No! It wasn't me, I swear!" He suddenly pointed at Lau, trying to pin the blame on someone else. "Trading is a Kunlun thing, isn't it?!"

_Trying to pin the blame on someone else..._ "Aw, too bad!" Lau shrugged and snickered. "We don't do business with African companies!"

"Well," Gray shrugged. "It really is a bit much to be deciding the killer based on the snake being from Africa alone." _Trying to..._

"T-That's right!" Woodley looked frantic. "What about when Siemen's was killed? I have an alibi!"

"That alibi might not be worth all that much," Rathbone smiled. I wondered what he'd done with the snake, but I didn't ask. "Simply because, what if the corpse the butler and the maid found _wasn't _a corpse?"

There were confused exclamations, and then Arthur stammered. "B-But he didn't have a pulse!" He argued. "And there was blood on his chest..."

"Fake," I interrupted softly. "There wasn't a wound on his chest. Before anyone else came in, I noticed something odd, but because it was dark I wasn't sure of it," I glanced briefly at Rathbone, before fixing my eyes on a point beyond everyone else. "Any injury violent enough to have caused such a mess would have left a visible wound. There wasn't one, just a lot of blood. Which was probably fake as well."

The preacher nodded admiringly. "Excellent observation. Does everyone know of the potion Juliet drank in _Romeo and Juliet_?"

Irene blinked. "You mean the one that sends you into a state of death, and then you come back to life? You don't mean-!"

He nodded. "Yes, it actually exists. There is a poison that would induce that state," he ignored Woodley's strangled gasp. "There is a substance known as tetrodotoxin that was recently discovered and is currently being studied. It seems that if you refine it in a certain way, you will be able to achieve a state of apparent death similar to Juliet's."

"Tetrodotoxin," Arthur repeated. "Isn't that the poison that puffer fish and octopuses carry?" _New knowledge._

"As expected from a doctor," Rathbone held up a finger. "When I investigated lord Siemen's body, I noticed a faint scent of the sea. Perhaps that was the scent of a poison made using puffer fish. I have just one question," he pressed his palms together. "Why would the scent of poison come from someone who had allegedly been stabbed?"

Ciel's visible eye narrowed. "It was a set up?" Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Gray jerk just slightly. _Pin the blame..._

"Indeed. He himself drank the poison, got rid of the bottle, and then pretended to be dead," Rathbone tapped his chin. "Then it wouldn't matter what room he was put in. He probably figured that people without specific medical knowledge wouldn't examine the wound closely, hence it would work as a temporary deception at least."

Arthur hung his head shamefacedly. "I should have looked at it more carefully..."

"But when I checked the body just now, he was certainly stabbed to death."

Lau frowned at Rathbone. "So what was meant to be a fake murder turned out to be a real one?"

"It's impossible to know whether lord Siemens was an accomplice though," Jeremy said. "Because he seemed quite out of bounds once he had some alcohol in him, the killer might have invited him to _give everyone a good scare_ or something."

The earl frowned, looking both cute and solemn in the oversized black jacket. "But the lord and myself had never met before," he said. "There is no reason for him to want to lure me into a trap. We can just look at it as him being used, and then silenced."

_Huh, how unfortunate. _"There would have been plenty of chances to talk to him during the buffet party." In that case, then neither Woodley, or anyone else in the room had an alibi whatsoever. "We could inquire as to what everyone talked about with lord Siemens, but let's not," Jeremy shrugged. "Humans are lying creatures."

Gray scowled at him pointedly. "That's right. In fact, you could be lying as well. He drank poison, then where did the bottle go?"

"That's easy," Ciel answered. "He got rid of it in a place no one could examine right away. In the fireplace, for example." There had been a ridiculous amount of wood burning in the fireplace. No one would have been able to search it for evidence immediately, not until the flames had died out and the embers had cooled. "However, that wasn't possible. Because of Sebastian."

"That's right!" Grimsby yelled, pointing again. He seemed to have taken over the role of chief accuser. "Before he could destroy the evidence, the butler had already come to collect the ashes!"

Yes, and if Sebastian had found the evidence, then his alibi would be destroyed, so he had killed the butler. "He then recovered the evidence and returned to his room," Ciel finished.

"Then the one who has it is the killer!" Woodley defended. "I don't have anything like that! You searched us, didn't you?!"

"That's right," Ciel agreed with a smile. "Outside the hearth, that is." The man's eyes grew wider, and he made silent, gaping movements with his mouth. Ciel turned his head towards the empty fireplace, still filled with ash and bits of wood and coal that hadn't burnt all through. He kept speaking without even looking at Woodley. "Isn't it a perfect hiding place? It's not like we would come to search the room again. If you recovered and destroyed it _after_ we were done searching..."

Words finally exploded from his mouth again. "That's a false accusation!" He screamed. "There's nothing like that here!"

"Then show us!" Grimsby snatched up the broom in the corner and began whacking at the fireplace, sending up clouds of ash. I pulled up the bed sheet to cover my nose and mouth. Suddenly, he gasped. "Glass shards!"

Indeed, there were small, broken bits of pale blue glass lying in the grate. It was expected, although the stunned expression on Woodley's face was mildly surprising. He looked just as astonished as everyone else.

Arthur coughed into his fist and tried to bat away the hovering grey cloud. "It's not like we can tell what it was with it broken like this. It's in a million pieces..."

"Of course we can," Rathbone gathered up the bits and pieces in a gloved hand. "It'll be fine if we put it back together. Think of it as being like a puzzle without a picture." _Those suck._ Thirty-three seconds later, I counted, he held up what looked like a tiny ampule, the sort doctors used to hold medicine.

"_You're the killer after all!_" Grimsby screamed, holding Irene behind himself as he turned on Woodley. "_You murderer!_"

"_I swear, I have no idea what this is!_"

Instead of looking angry, Arthur just looked sad. "To want to trap a child..." he stared at Woodley with such a sad expression that I wanted to go over and stroke his face. "Why on earth would you do that?"

Before he could say anything in his own defence, although I wasn't exactly sure what he coud have said, Ciel answered for him. "Diamonds." All eyes turned to him. "There was a top secret plan for a major company in the diamond industry, Rose, and my own company which possesses the world's leading technology to cooperate and take off in the jewellery industry. However a few days ago, the autocratic president, Mr. Rose, was murdered and the plan was put on hold."

I understood. At the moment, Woodley's company led in the jewellery industry. If the Funtom Company, and that other business had joined together, then the Woodley Company would certainly have suffered a drop in their incoming revenue. It sometimes amazed me, the things people would do for money.

"_I didn't do it! Please believe me! I'm being set up here!_" He suddenly whirled around, eyes wide, pupils shrunken. He pointed a shaking finger at Ciel. "_By him! By this kid! He's the Queen's Watch-!_"

A sword appeared at his throat, cutting him off. "Shut up," Charles Gray stood behind him, his expression one of complete displeasure. "I don't need your explanations. I'll listen to your stories in jail."

He was crying now, small tears, but still there anyway. "_I...I didn't...I didn't do it!_" His pleas fell on deaf ears, and he was led away in the same chains Gray had used to confine Ciel earlier. Woodley was led out of the room, and as the door shut, everyone heaved a silent, simultaneous sigh of relief. _It's over._

Finny suddenly blinked. "Come to think of it, what was that dark red liquid then?"

"Fi-Finny!" Mey-Rin squeaked. "The case is over! There's no need for that anymore!" At the same time, Rathbone nodded thoughtfully.

"Ah, that's right," he said. "I haven't discussed that yet. The maid seemed to have found an interesting dark red liquid in Ms. Irene's room. She was wondering if the always young and beautiful looking Irene Diaz was a vampire."

Grimsby snarled and tried to march forward, only held back only by the singer. "_What's up with that?! Are you questioning Irene?!_"

The man smiled and shook his head. "On the contrary," he dug into his pocket. "I daresay the contents of the bottle were, this, right?" In his hand was a dark red leaf. A red perilla, Finny put a name to it. "The perilla has an anti-aging effect. The extract that is taken from its boiled down leaves is the origin of your beauty, is it not?"

She looked surprised, but she nodded. "Th-That's right. I'm sorry, I never thought it would turn into something like this," she clung to Grimsby's arm. "I take it because I want to remain young with him forever."

_How stupidly romantic. _The aura around them was ridiculously sappy and sparkly. "Incidentally, this can also restore fatigue," Rathbone pulled out a glass bottle filled with the same extract. Evidently he'd made his own, although I had no idea when he'd done so. "So, upon that notion, why don't we celebrate the solving of the case with a toast?"

And so we did. Rathbone mixed the perilla extract with some champagne, turning it a glittery red colour. Arthur made a toast, by Ciel's request, and even we servants were given glasses.

Still, as I passed by Rathbone with my own glass, I lowered my voice to a quiet hiss. "_We are not done here. Not by a long shot._"


	42. Of Revelations and Snakes

**Guest who asked about the cat: **Who knows? It might have been Sebastian. It might have just been some random cat meant to symbolise Sebastian.

**Jhoanne: ***flails around wildly like an excited Flapjack* Ohmigosh, thank you! I'm so happy that you said that you don't even understand!

**I still own nothing!**

**Of Revelations and Snakes**

The storm ended that very night, coinciding quite well with the end of the case. The clouds shifted to reveal pale blue skies streaked with white clouds, and the sun shone down on the earth like it had never left, as if the past few nights and all its events had never occurred at all. Birds that had disappeared, soared out of hiding, and the manor was filled with the sound of birdsong. The air smelled like rain and grass, two of my favourite scents.

The guests left the very next morning. I stood in the doorway of the manor and watched as the Gray and Phipps loaded Woodley into the back of a police cab, still wrapped up in chains. Gray stood outside the vehicle, supervising. He did not look particularly happy.

Arthur paused at the door of his own cab and looked back at the mansion. He was the last to leave, and he did not look particularly happy either, but his expression held sadness, and a hint of curiousity and unease. I had never met a writer before, but he had the eyes of one; the eyes of someone who saw far more than others did.

Although, sometimes, that wasn't always a good thing.

My eyes alighted on a dark shape moving towards his cab: Mr. Rathbone. He knocked on the window of the cab, and the two appeared to be conversing. I couldn't hear what they were saying, as I was a bit too far away. His last words however, seemed to stun the writer, if his expression was anything to go by. Then he tapped on the body of the cab, signalling to the driver, and then it was rolling down the path until it was almost out of sight.

I didn't speak to the black-clad priest when he climbed the stairs to the door, nor did I speak to him when he stepped into the mansion and I shut the door behind him.

And then it was just the three of us. I stretched my arms upwards, and then turned to face both Rathbone and Ciel with a smile that was too wide and too cheerful to be on my face. "Now that they're gone," my voice was cold, yet sickly sweet, as was the smile I directed at the men behind me. "_Which one of you wants to explain why Sebastian looks like a 58 year old man_?"

They both froze on their way up the stairs, and then Ciel adjusted his hat and quickened his steps. "This is a lover's quarrel," he called over his shoulder. "I refuse to get involved."

I suppose my expression must have been a rather scary, because Sebastian looked rather intimidated as I walked towards him, still smiling all the way. "Now, Thalia, calm down..."

"_Calm down?_" I repeated icily. "That's a funny thing to say. Enlighten me then, when should I have been calm? I mean, I thought you were _dead_," I'd backed him against the banister now, and my hand darted out to grabbed his tie, yanking him down until his face was level with mine. "Do you know how _felt_?" I snarled at him, anger making my tongue loose and my words clear. "Do you understand how fucking _terrified _I was? I thought I'd..."

_I thought I'd lost you. _Well I wasn't angry enough to admit that. His pupils had dilated now, and I wasn't exactly sure what emotions were swimming in those dark red pools. How had I not noticed before? The eyes were the same. He leaned closer. "You thought you'd what?"

With a huff, I released him and marched up the stairs to catch up with Ciel. "Never mind what I thought," I glared at him over my shoulder. "And take off that god-awful mask. Your actual face is much better." I was tired of staring at that wrinkled, big-nosed, squinty-eyed visage. I wanted...no, I _needed _to see his face.

However, before we could even make it all the way up the stairs, the doors of the mansion burst open, revealing a panting writer. Rathbone, I'd continue to call him that until he took of that face mask, glanced over his shoulder at him. "Why so flustered?" He asked. "Did you forget something?"

Arthur shook his head, seemingly still out of breath. "I came back to confirm the truth Pastor Jeremy. No," he frowned, he seemed to have regained his breath again. "Butler. You're Sebastian."

So I wasn't the only one who'd made that guess. I grinned, and then scowled at Sebastian when he shot me a disgruntled stare. _You do not have the right to be jealous right now. _"Excellent," he finally raised his hand to his face. "It seem that we underestimated you a little. Or rather, we rudely underestimated you," the mask came off with a sound like a tape. "Mr. Wordsmith."

Honestly, I had no idea how much I'd missed Sebastian as _Sebastian_ until he finally removed the mask_._ The second he tore away the plastic, I had to restrain myself from tackling him in the biggest, most bone-crushing hug ever. And then I'd punch him. I'm not sure which would come first, but I would punch him at some point.

There was a choked noise, and I remembered that there was still someone else there. Arthur was shaking now, eyes wide and he looked like he wanted to flee, but something stopped him from moving. "I...I can't believe it..." he gasped. "How could something so unreal be happening...?"

"Oh?" Sebastian gazed down at him. "Didn't you come back because you were certain of this? If you had just gone back, you would have returned to your peaceful _reality_. So why did you come back?" He arched an eyebrow. "Trembling even."

Yes the author was shaking, but he suddenly seemed to steel himself. "B-Because if my uncomfortable feeling wasn't just an uncomfortable feeling, then I'd have to go after the Yard's carriage immediately," he replied.

At that, Ciel actually laughed. Actually, he snickered, but it was one of the least mocking snickers I'd ever heard him make. "Your sense of justice is strong, Mr. Wordsmith. You did mention in your works that you liked the knights of the Middle Ages," he smiled. "Didn't you realise that, if you knew the truth, you would not be able to return home?"

"Ciel!" I snapped, at the same time that Arthur screamed a terrified exclamation.

He snickered again, and waved a hand to appease me. "I'm just joking," he smiled. _You have a terrible sense of humour. _"It is just as you guessed," he turned and kept walking up the stairs. "Woodley wasn't the criminal. At least, not in _this _crime. However, he does deserve to be in that carriage."

Arthur blinked and stared after him. "What do you mean?"

The earl did not answer him directly. "Let's not stand and talk," Ciel said. "We might as well have some elevenses prepared. Sebastian."

The butler bowed. "Understood. I'll take you to the dining room," he gestured for the writer to follow him, and then chuckled at the look of trepidation on his face. "You wish to know the truth, don't you? Don't be scared, we won't eat you."

_I sincerely hope that you don't. _"Leave him alone," I barked at the two of them, still reeling with rage at the fact that they'd left me out of everything and made me think that the one person I'd actually allowed myself to lo-like (a lot) was dead. "_I'll _take him." After all, I was probably the lesser of the three evils.

Ciel shrugged, and Sebastian frowned faintly, but I ignored him. I led Arthur to the dining room, which was the greenhouse on one of the upper floors. The room held aqua blue fountains carved like seashells, and lush green plants and vibrant flowers that hadn't been bruised by the past storm. There was a small table in the middle of the room, at which the two males sat.

Sebastian wheeled out a tray of plates, tea, and the snacks. "Today I have prepared for you Fortnum and Mason's Darjeeling Second Flush," he poured hot water through the strainer containing the tea leaves and into the pot. "For snacks, I have _petit fours_."

Arthur stared suspiciously at the incredibly high-class arrangement in front of him. Ciel smirked and picked up his own teacup. "We haven't poisoned it," he said. "So please help yourself." So saying, he took a sip of his own tea. Arthur flushed slightly, and nervously picked up his own teacup. "So?" Ciel arched an eyebrow at him. "How did you know that he was alive, Mr. Wordsmith?"

The writer put his teacup down after a contemplative sip. "Actually, it's not like I had a sort of conviction that he was still alive," he confessed. "It was more like I kept having this vague sense of discomfort. I'm not sure how to say this," he turned to study Sebastian briefly. "But he was just _too perfect_."

_Too perfect?_ I glanced at Sebastian, and then looked away almost immediately. _Yeah, that sounds about right._

"Even though I had this uncomfortable feeling about the butler Sebastian, and the Pastor Jeremy, there wasn't a single flaw in either of them to be suspicious of. They were so perfect, that it became strange instead."

Sebastian tilted his head slightly. "And by that, you are trying to say?"

I noticed that Arthur was refusing to look directly into his eyes. "That there is no way you could have prepared everything so well before dying," he replied. "Well, being murdered," he fiddled with the handle of his teacup while he spoke. "The food, the owl, even your words to me. Pastor Jeremy's appearance was suspicious, but his alibi was so perfect that there was no reason to doubt him. And then there were his words at our parting..."

_He planned this from beginning to end, didn't he? _And to think, I cried for him! I glanced at Sebastian again out of the corner of my eye, and quickly huffed and looked away when he looked back at me.

_Wait, fuck, I confessed that I loved him! _I swore internally like a sailor, or someone who had spent far too much time in bars. _Fuck, dammit! Well, I'm never bringing that up again._

"The moment I heard that, I realised the true nature of my constant discomfort," Arthur continued. "And also the possibility of something unreal, that would overthrow all of our reasoning."

Ciel arched an eyebrow. "_The possibility of something unreal?_" It was both an echo, and a question.

Arthur nodded, and finally looked to meet Sebastian's eyes. "The possibility that the butler, Sebastian, had not died," he sighed and slumped down in his seat, as though that admission had released something that had been wound tight inside of him. "When I thought of that, I just couldn't contain myself..."

"To think you'd come to believe this, and come running back just because of those words," Sebastian smiled. "You're all one would expect from someone who has earned the young master's praise." Ciel scowled at him over the rim of his teacup. "So, what part of me made you think so?"

The writer's eyes narrowed slightly. "Once was at the time of Lord Siemen's death," he began. "At that time, you weren't doing anything but observing our movements. We're talking about the person who reacted so swiftly during the disturbance at the evening party, so I can't help thinking that there must have been a reason for it. The maid was doing the same thing though," he frowned and turned to me. "But I don't think you knew. The way you looked when the butler was murdered...no one can act that distraught."

_What? I-! _I twitched when Sebastian slid his gaze over to me with a pleased smirk. _Don't give me that look! _I huffed again, louder, and ignored the red flush spreading across my cheeks.

"Then when the earl was suspected, you didn't utter a single word in his defence," Arthur listed. "For a butler not to protect his master even a little is rather strange. Didn't you know that the suspicions on the earl would be lifted when the next murder occurred?"

Sebastian finally stopped staring at me. "Of course I realised this," he smiled demurely. "However," he cut off Arthur's next words. "That wasn't the reason that I did not protect the young master."

Ciel sighed and glared at his butler. "You probably thought it served me right, didn't you?"

"Not at all," Sebastian's expression was innocent. "I was just taken aback at how – while you predicted that something would probably be set up – you quickly gave in to sleep, and I was left to take care of the mess."

My left eye twitched, but I composed myself and poured more tea into Ciel's cup. _I want to hit both of you really hard. _"W-Wait a second!" Arthur yelled. "By predicting, do you mean-?!"

"Yes," Sebastian answered before he could complete his question. "We knew beforehand that there was a person mixed up in the dinner party that wanted to torment the young master. We also predicted that Master Siemens would probably be made a sacrifice for it. And also," he glanced at me. "That I would be killed."

I listened as the butler detailed the events that explained his death, and that of Master Siemen's. The mysterious cracking sound he'd heard when he and I had gone to check his room, the fact that he couldn't smell any blood when he entered the room, which meant that the man had to have drunk something, and then broken the container.

"Wait a minute!" Arthur cut in. "If you knew that, why didn't you say so immediately?" _Yes, I knew I was right about the lack of blood!_ "If you'd said something, the earl wouldn't have been suspected!"

Sebastian lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "The young master seemed to be observing the situation, so I did the same." You know, I was actually feeling pretty left out, and a part of me was a jumbled up mess of joy, confusion, embarrassment, and massive fury.

Ciel picked one of the snacks and popped it into his mouth. "A murder under those circumstances," he chewed and swallowed. "At first I thought it must have been a set up. Aside from him being alive or dead, I did guess that Siemen's had taken the poison himself. After that," he put down his teacup. "I thought we wouldn't be too late even if we moved after catching the criminal's tail."

"I see," Arthur nodded. "That's why you made him refill the coal, right? There's no need to collect ashes in an empty room. Even so, he was killed in that room while collecting ashes."

Now that I thought about it, that was true. And now that I thought about it even more, cleaning up and tidying the rooms was usually my job. Sebastian had been ordered to clean up the fireplace so that he could search the ashes for the glass shards of the vial that the poison had been in. "Though you are such a cruel master," he said to Ciel. "You gave me the order knowing that I would be killed."

The earl shrugged. "I never thought it would go as we expected for so long," he replied.

Sebastian continued his recount of the events. He'd gone to the room as he'd been instructed, and begun cleaning out the hearth, also as instructed. Of course he'd found shards of glass that, when fitted together, formed two vials. In the reflection of the glass, he'd seen the face of his killer...

Charles Gray.

_I knew it! _I just barely restrained myself from screaming and upturning the table_. I knew it! I should have skewered him when I had the chance! The next time I see him, I'll kill him! I swear I will-!_ "Thalia?" I felt a hand on the top of my head, and I immediately smacked it away coldly without a second thought.

_Don't touch me._ Which was not what I wanted.

The hand retreated. "Of course."I really wanted him to embrace me and just hold me so that I could forget that the events of the past few nights had ever happened.

The recount continued, after the brief, tense silence that occurred after my actions. Sebastian had then followed Gray to the cellar where Siemen's body was. The old pervert had actually grabbed some of the wine for himself, but had no time to drink it because Gray stabbed him not a few seconds later.

After that, he'd prepared enough food to last for three days, and then he'd given Bard and Finny instructions for the following day. After that, he'd come to Mey-Rin and I with the owl, and his request that we release it at dawn. It had been dark, which was why I hadn't seen any bloodstains.

So that was what it had been, that odd smell on Sebastian. He'd pushed me away before I could confirm what it was. The wound had been on his back, and not his front, hence the lack of moisture. I twitched and snarled at him with my fists clenched. "You willingly stabbed yourself in the chest, because _it sounded like it would be a fun prank?!_"

He just smiled at me. "You both put on quite a realistic show," he said, and I just managed to hold myself back from hitting him. "Although I never thought the young master would hit me with his ring hand. Especially when I couldn't move..." I turned my glare on Ciel, and he avoided it by gazing into his tea.

"Thalia saved you, at any rate," he muttered. "Get on with it."

Proclaimed dead, Sebastian was able to travel around freely. First he caught the owl we'd released, tranquilized it (poor bird), and then he'd had to hurry to the wine cellar when Arthur suggested searching the bodies for the key to Ciel's room. On the way, he got distracted by Morgan, who'd somehow gotten out of the house and hadn't been able to get back in.

With Morgan, however, came the dozen other cats I'd found in his closet. I decided not to scold him, because I would probably have done the same thing in his position.

They had stripped him down, which made me feel incredibly glad that I hadn't offered to come along. That would have been incredibly mortifying.

He had then recovered the shards of the glass that Gray had thrown into the garden (how? Who knows) and planted them in Woodley's hearth. Then he'd donned a mask, transforming himself into Jeremy Rathbone, and arrived at the manor at a ridiculously appropriate moment.

"So that ticket was a fake?" Arthur asked.

Sebastian shook his head. "No, it's the real thing. I actually went to London to buy it. During the break in the dinner party, I slipped out and bought it. If you have any doubts, then you can have the stub inspected when you return to London."

"Everything, including the owl, was just a part in his own little play to make Jeremy look convincing," Ciel shrugged and lifted his arms. When Arthur asked, he tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Ah yes, about that letter..."

Turns out it was blank. Sebastian's sense of humour was apparently no better than Ciel's. _Idiots._

"But I investigated your corpse together with Jeremy!" Arthur pointed out.

He'd stripped off his disguise and run back to the cellar, in time to be carried up by the servants and myself. Then he'd donned his disguise again, the only obstacle being Gray. After studying Phelps' corpse – him being the only one who had been killed in a different way than the others – he'd then grabbed his body and placed it where his own was supposed to be.

"Ci-the young master's sudden bout of angst was just a distraction so that we wouldn't look at the corpse for very long," I folded my arms over my chest. "I knew I shouldn't have believed it." But I had, because I'd believed that Sebastian had died, and I'd wanted to comfort Ciel because I also needed comfort.

The boy handed me a _petit four_ for my woes.

Apparently, after leaving the room, Gray had doubled back towards the room. Sebastian had then had to switch disguises _again_, and retake his original spot. I'm not sure what he did with Phelps' body then, but I assume he put it back where it was supposed to be.

All in all, the entire explanation was extremely confusing and it took a while for me to understand everything. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. "After hearing your story, the incident...nothing makes any sense. I can't make heads or tails of it anymore," the writer stared at Ciel, completely at a loss. "Why would Earl Gray want to pin the blame on you?"

Well, I knew the answer to that, and I tensed and averted my gaze to one of the flowers blooming amongst the green. "I'm ashamed to admit that a little prank of mine got found out." It was red, and orange, like flames licking at the clay pot it was in. "However, I've always been good at playing games," Ciel continued. "I used Woodley, who I summoned as a scapegoat, to be my pawn."

"But why the innocent Mr. Woodley?" Arthur asked.

Ciel narrowed his eye. "Didn't I tell you?" He wondered. "He deserved to be in that horse carriage. Up front he runs a diamond polishing business. Behind the scenes, however, he is a weapons dealer who sells illegal weaponry that he got with the diamonds in areas of conflict."

He also hadn't been lying about the Rose Company's president being murdered, and Woodley had been confirmed as the criminal. When did they do this? I was feeling so left out.

"For people of the underground society to use their power to endanger people of the normal society is a grave violation of the rules," Ciel smiled smugly. "Since I was going to get rid of him anyway, he was the perfect person to you as a scapegoat, right?"

Sebastian nodded. "It would clear the Queen's worries, and ensure that the young master was kept out of harm's way," he explained. "It's two birds with one stone."

Arthur's eyes were wide, and there was a bit of fear in them. "Just exactly what are you?" He questioned.

_The Queen's Watchdog. Even though she sometimes does not deserve the shit we go through for her._ "What happened this time was no more than a game where the Queen reconfirmed whether I had the talent or not," Ciel smirked and leaned back in his seat.

He was trembling violently now, shaking hard. He knew. Or, at the very least, he suspected. "N-No way," his voice shook, as though he was rushing to find the end, yet terrified of what he might find. "If what you've told me up 'til now is true, then he...that butler is..."

_There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,_ the quote came to me as Ciel said it. It had been in his story. He knew. "The truth," Sebastian was suddenly behind him, eyes glowing red, his pupils now pulled into black slits. He grinned, and his canines were sharp and curved, like some wild beast. "_Is that I am not human._"

Arthur screamed and fell backwards, and I lowered my gaze as darkness and feathers as black as a starless, moonless night fell to the ground. One landed on my shoulder and brushed against my neck, and I reached up to curl my fingers around it.

"_Now that I do know it, I shall do my best to forget it,_" Sebastian quoted as he stalked forward, chasing down the horrified man. "_Was that right, Mr. Wordsmith?_" The writer screamed and sprung for the door, only to meet Sebastian in front of him again. The dark haired demon smirked, a face, a body, a swirling mass of feathers and darkness. "_One wonders what would happen to you if you were to reveal this matter,_" the threat was clear. "_I'm sure you understand, right?_"

Arthur broke past him, eyes shut and he ran blindly towards the door. "_I'll never say!_" He begged. "_I'll never say, so please!_"

"_Those words, I will make sure that you never, ever forget them. After all, we're always watching..._"

* * *

oOo

* * *

His screams grew quieter and quieter, until they were gone entirely, and then I sighed. _I'm never going to have normal friends if this keeps up._ I'd _liked_ him! Now he'd run screaming from the manor, never to return because he'd been chased off by a demon.

Speaking of which, I turned to Sebastian just as Ciel spoke. "Why did have to reveal your true form to him?" He asked. "That seemed a bit much."

"He is a writer," Sebastian replied simply. "If he goes through a strange experience, he will definitely wish to write about it. Writers are those kind of creatures." _You'd know. And I wouldn't call this strange, more traumatic if anything. _"You both liked his novel, didn't you? You read that magazine many times without throwing it away. Weren't you disappointed knowing that there was no continuation?"

_So you traumatized the poor man because we liked his book?_ That was both the sweetest, and the scariest thing I'd ever heard in my life. Ciel scoffed and swirled the remainder of his tea in his teacup. "It was okay to pass time with," he grunted, which was a pretty big compliment for him.

Sebastian smiled and picked up the plate of leftover snacks. "His next book will certainly be something to look forward to." I blinked when he held it out to me, and saw it for what it was: a peace offering. My eyes narrowed, and then I looked away. It would take more than sugary snacks before I forgave him.

Somewhere in the background, Ciel snickered, and I pinned him with a glare as well. _I am supremely pissed off with both of you. _

The butler sighed and put down the plate with a frown. "Well, now that Mr. Wordsmith has left also, I will be starting preparations for lunch." The servants had been sent out shopping, since the rain had finally stopped and we were incredibly low on supplies.

"Wait," Ciel stared at him. "I assumed you didn't mention it on purpose, so I didn't say anything, but you haven't properly explained Phelps' murder yet."

_Oh, right, that's true._ "Actually," Sebastian grinned, revealing perfectly normal teeth. "There was another uninvited guest." At our stunned expressions, he suddenly dropped down and pulled out a large wooden crate from under the table. _Has that been there all this time?!_ "Since it was a bit sudden, I had him taken to this luxury suite."

The crate was covered in chains and several padlocks to prevent escape. It looked small, and cramped, and dark, and I couldn't help pitying whoever was in there. "The killer is in there?!" Ciel yelped in surprise, and then he composed himself. "Well don't just stand there, open it up."

"Are you sure?" Sebastian cocked his head innocently. Ciel glared at him, and he shrugged and began removing the chains one by one. "Well, if you're certain..."

The chains came away easily in his hands. Finally they were all gone, and he reached to pull back the lid. Suddenly, two snakes erupted from the blackness and leaped out at the young earl. Instinct made me shift in front of him, but Sebastian quickly grabbed them before could come close enough to inflict harm.

"Oh my," he seemed to be struggling not to laugh while Ciel lay on the ground, eyes wide with shock. "They seem to be extremely resentful towards the young master."

_You're both such idiots,_ I placed a hand on my hip, and then peered into the crate. What I saw stunned me more than the snakes had.

Snake, the snake charmer from the circus. I'd forgotten about him. I suppose he hadn't been present when the other circus members had died, and he'd figured out that their deaths were Ciel's fault (which they were). Accordingly, he'd come to have his revenge, but had accidentally killed Phelps' in the process.

"The day after Black, Smile and Red snuck into Joker and everyone's tent, they all disappeared!" He accused. Well, the snake accused. He had that cute (don't give me that look) way of speaking through his snakes. "_Says Wilde_. That's why I followed Smile from the scent on his clothes, _says Oscar._"

He'd gone to the main house, but we hadn't been there. Prince Soma and Agni had been there instead, however. The prince had promptly told him where we were, and even sent him off in a horse-drawn carriage, all without even asking his name or purpose. He'd been hiding in our greenhouse ever since.

The three of us sweatdropped at the end of the story. "Those idiots..." Ciel muttered. "They sent an assassin to me!" After growling at the Indians for a few more seconds, he composed himself and faced Snake. "I see. So you mentioned that their disappearance was our fault?"

"_That's right!_" He yelled. "_After you guys showed up, they started acting weird! _Says Wordsworth. I somehow got that they were hiding something from me, but they still called me a friend! They..." he gritted his teeth. "They called me their family," he glared at Ciel, and he looked almost feral. "_You took that from me!_ Says Wilde."

I don't know what Ciel saw in his eyes, maybe it was a bit much to hope that he was struck by a sudden feeling of compassion and actual empathy, but I could tell that he wasn't going to do anything horrible to Snake. "The circus group you were in were involved in kidnapping children from the places you visited," he revealed bluntly. "We became your companions in order to find evidence of this."

Snake froze, eyes wide. "They were kidnappers...?" And then he shook his head and glared up at us. "Th-That's a lie! Don't talk rubbish! _Says Oscar_."

Ciel lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "That might be, because our identities were discovered before we could obtain evidence..." I seized up at the lie that he uttered. "They made their whereabouts unknown after that. In that sense, I may have taken your peace from you. However, I wanted to save the children that were suffering because of them."

_Why Ciel? Why are you lying? _

He walked forward and untied the ropes binding the snake charmer, a calculated show of trust. "I want to save you too," he held out a hand to the man. "Will you come to my mansion? We are looking for Joker and the others right now to clear up the incident. Don't you think that staying here would enable you to see them faster?"

_A calculated risk. You never do things with all your heart. Everything is a game to you, a game where you must win, even if everyone else is damned in the process._

Even before he moved, I knew Snake would take his hand. He had dangled the very thing he wanted the most in front of him, held it so close that there was no way he could have said no. No way, unless he already knew.

_You'll never see them again._ I immediately made up my mind to be kind to Snake (not that I wouldn't have been, he clearly hadn't known about the kidnappings), to atone for Ciel's lie. And so I grabbed the plate of snacks from the table, bumped Ciel out of the way dismissively, knelt down in front of the confused snake charmer, and held it out with a smile. "_Petit four_?"

* * *

oOo

* * *

We held the funeral the very next day. I suppose that is one of the pros of having a mortician as a friend: speedy burial service.

Wow if that isn't depressing.

For some reason, I opted to make myself look pretty for the day. I painted my lips blood red, and ringed my eyes in black to go with the dress I was wearing for the occasion. Why all the make-up, you ask? I have no idea, but it seemed like a good idea.

I tackled Undertaker in a hug the second I spotted him on the manor grounds. "Ah, hello little maid~," he cooed, patting me on the head. Well, on the black net bonnet I was wearing. I'd found it amongst Madam Red's things and it had gone with the dress. "You look just like her," he commented. "It's a pity about the butler though~," I could tell he was trying not to snicker.

"Belt up, I already know he isn't dead," I scowled up at the mortician. "How could you not tell me? I thought we were closer than that! Honestly, how dare you leave me out of the loop? I should hit you but I won't do that because I like you too much."

He laughed at the end of my rant, and patted me on the shoulder. "You shouldn't say things like that so casually, little maid~," he chuckled. "Whatever would the butler say~?"

I frowned and pulled away. "The butler is dead at the moment, so he truly can't say much," I replied coolly. "Come on, the service is supposed to start soon, and we can't bury someone properly without a mortician."

For what it was worth, it was a tasteful and simple ceremony. Agni, Bard, Finny and Tanaka carried the coffin in which Sebastian lay. His body was placed on a bed of white lilies, with his hands folded across his chest, and his face still and devoid of anything. For all my flippancy, I couldn't help the fact that my heart clenched at the sight.

As the coffin was lowered into the ground, Elizabeth burst into tears. "Sebastian is a liar!" She sobbed. "He's so cruel, promising that he would never leave Ciel's side! Ciel!" She suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and wailed harder. She was soon followed by Soma, until it was pretty hard to tell just whose household member had passed away.

I tried to shed some tears, but I couldn't. I'd already cried for him that one morning, and I couldn't summon up enough emotion to do it again. At any rate, some shallow part of me kept thinking, _screw this, I spent about twenty minutes on this makeup. I'm not about to ruin it for someone who isn't even dead._ So all I could manage was a dejected look, which no one quizzed me about.

Ciel exhaled a sad laugh. "For you to care so deeply makes me so happy," he smiled. "Well, let's go back to the mansion." We all turned to leave, but then there was the sound of a bell ringing, quiet notes on an almost unfelt breeze.

The bell on the grave was ringing, even though there wasn't enough wind to move the small brass instrument. Undertaker chuckled at the confused faces of the guests. "Should you really be standing around like that~?" He wondered with a grin. "If the bell rings, then it means that_ he's still alive_."

Well, he didn't have to say it twice. Everyone flew back to the grave as though possessed, and began yanking up the dirt with their hands, or with spades, until they finally unearthed the recently buried coffin. The cover creaked open as soon as the last clod of dirt had been swept away, and Sebastian sat up_. _

He blinked against the sunlight, acting dazed, and exhaled a breathless laugh. "Phew," he sounded relieved. "I'm so glad I finally got out of there."

He was promptly attacked by the servants, as well as lady Elizabeth, which meant that there were now four people inside the grave sobbing and crying over him. Suddenly, they seemed to remember me. Mey-Rin turned to me with a tearful smile. "Thalia, aren't you glad?" She asked. "Mr. Sebastian is alive!"

And even though I'd known he was alive for the past 24 hours, I was. I was so glad, so glad that he was here, still with me. I swallowed hard, and slowly walked over to him. As though sensing something, the servants and lady Elizabeth had shifted away, until I could stand in front of him. He gazed back at me, and the breeze picked up just enough to dry the tears forming at the corners of my eyes.

"Thalia?" His voice speaking my name, and then the dam broke. I dropped to my knees, and slapped him across the face. Behind me, there were gasps of shock, but I ignored them. Sebastian blinked once, and then smiled. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

_You bastard. _I threw my arms around him and engulfed him in a hug so tight that, if he'd been human, he'd have been bruised pretty badly. "_Don't you ever,_" I half snarled, half sobbed. "_Ever do that to me again._" I buried my face in his hair and clung to him with all my might.

Arms came around me as well, and he returned the embrace. "Yes, my darling." And suddenly, everything seemed right with the world. The metaphorical clouds of anger that had been hovering over me since yesterday parted, and I laughed silently, but happily, into his hair.

"If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I will never forgive you," I told him, and then I pulled back and pressed a kiss to his cheek (which left a very noticeable mark, due to the lipstick I was wearing). Someone coughed behind me, Ciel, and I suddenly remembered that there was an audience behind me.

_Oh... _I coughed awkwardly, and backed away before anyone could see how red my face was. _Wow, I got carried away with that. _I overheard Ciel speaking to Sebastian. "You might want to clean that off."

"Must I?"

And so ended the horrifying episode of murder, death, and darkness that had descended upon the Phantomhive manor in the last few days. Now the sun was shining, and all was as it should be. We even had a new servant, along with several highly poisonous snakes.

And I had Sebastian.

_One day, maybe I'll work up the courage I need to confess to that bastard properly,_ I pushed a strand of hair out of my face and glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. He was staring at me, and I flushed and looked away.

_Maybe, one day..._

**Ugh, sappy ending is sappy *sighs* anyway, so here ends the Murder Arc! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!**

**Please read and review!**


	43. Karnstein Hospital

**I told myself several times, "no Indigo, don't do the Campania arc. You started with the anime, focus on the anime. STOP GETTING DISTRACTED WOMAN!"**

**And I agreed, but the more I read and reread the manga, the more the idea simmered in my brain until I decided "fuck it" and wrote it anyway. It took longer than I wanted because of school and life and I fell sick a few days ago with...something...**

**But seriously, this will be the last arc I'll take from the manga! The last one! (this is probably a lie). I do not own anything other than Thalia.**

**Karnstein Hospital**

A day passed – surprisingly that was how long it took for the other servants to recover from their shock, happiness and confusion at Sebastian's sudden resurrection – and then we had to introduce Snake as the newest servant in the Phantomhive manor.

"...and that will be all concerning your duties for today," Sebastian finished detailing all our general jobs for the day, as was normal and his duty as the butler. "However, there is one last thing you should all know." Immediately everyone stood a bit straighter and gazed at him questioningly. "There will be an increase in the number of servants at the mansion."

The general reaction to that was one of surprise and confusion. I was forced to act as though I was just as perplexed as everyone else, but that was alright. I was a good actress. Certainly I was usually able to keep a tight reign on my emotions, although I couldn't feign the shock the others clearly felt when the door opened and several snakes came slithering into the kitchen. I mean, I'd expected that.

No one else did though. "_Snakes!_" The servants screamed and began running away, or grabbing for kitchen utensils to use as weapons. I couldn't help taking a tiny step back as well. Even if I wasn't truly frightened, my natural born human reflexes still told me _snakes are dangerous and can be incredibly poisonous_.

A green-brown snake coiled itself around my ankle, and I stared down at it curiously. Sebastian puffed out a sigh. "Please calm down," he said. "They won't hurt you unless he orders them to."

Bard, who was hiding behind Finny – the small blonde really didn't seem frightened of the reptiles at all – peeked out nervously. "_He?_"

Sebastian glanced at the door, and then a second later Snake peeked out. He was dressed in a uniform that was similar to Sebastian's, and appeared incredibly nervous. There was a snake around his neck.

Also, I'd noticed this before, but he had scales on his skin, almost like he was part snake himself. His serpent-like eyes gazed at us from behind the door, until Sebastian marched over to him and slapped him on the back, hard enough to propel him properly into the kitchen. "Straighten up!" He snapped. "Introduce yourself properly. Since you're here now, you'll have to abide by our rules!"

I felt a sharp swell of annoyance at Sebastian, but I didn't say anything, and contented myself with running a finger over the scales of the snake. It had coiled itself up my leg and, in order to stop it from disappearing up my skirt, I'd directed it onto my arm and then my shoulders. Snake consciously straightened. "I...I'm snake," he said quietly, but loud enough to be heard. "N-Nice to meet you. _Says Oscar._"

Finny frowned in confusion. "Um, so it's Oscar?"

"No!" Snake replied in a gruff voice, completely different from his shy tone earlier. "This one is Snake, and I'm Oscar! _Says Oscar._" He then pointed to the snakes in turn. "That one is Emily, next is Bronte, and over there is Wordsworth," he gestured to the snake hanging from Finny's neck, to which the blonde cheerfully greeted. "Then that one is Hopkins," he pointed to the one around my neck. "And that one on the side is..."

I'm pretty sure he would have gone on introducing us to his collection of snakes (not that I would have minded), but Sebastian decided to cut the pleasantries short. "Yes, yes, we'll discuss those _servants_ at another time," he clapped his hands together. "Anyway, he will be the footman in this household from now on. Please work together."

Snake stood awkwardly for a moment, seemingly anxious about what he should do. He didn't know anyone else in the room other than Sebastian and myself, and it's not like the demon would really help him in any way. Finally, after another second of dithering, I walked over to him and touched his elbow gently, just a brush of fingers against fabric.

"Come on then," I smiled. "We're supposed to start breakfast now, and you might as well help me cut the vegetables."

The circus-performer-turned-footman blinked down at me, and then flushed just faintly. "Thank you, _says Oscar. _You smell nice, _says Hopkins._"

_Complimented by a snake, _I blinked several times, and then shrugged. Well, that wasn't the strangest thing to ever happen to me. Luckily Snake was quite a fast learner, and a hard worker. As I performed my own menial tasks, I could hear Sebastian and Bard discussing him quietly. I had mostly been ignoring Sebastian since he'd miraculously come back to life. I may have forgiven him, but he still needed to be punished for sending my emotions spiralling in the most messed up of ways.

However, I suppose that this may have caused me to subconsciously place quite a bit of my affectionate nature on Snake. I mean, I probably would have been nice to him either way (something about him triggers my protective instincts), but now I was treating him like a baby brother.

_Snake, be careful! Snake, are you alright? Oh, you got something in your eyes! Should I blow it out? Do you need help? _

I'm sorry, but something inside me really wants to be able to mollycoddle someone to my heart's content. Sebastian and Ciel aren't exactly brimming with affection re they, and I can't do this to Sebastian, he'd just tease me and then take advantage of it.

See, this is why I love animals.

Either way, I could tell that the butler wasn't pleased by this. I suppose I wouldn't be either, if the same was done to me. As much as I hated to admit it, I could get just as jealous as he could (except I was clearly more controlled in y actions).

When breakfast had been prepared, Sebastian arranged everything on the tray and gave curt orders for us to tidy up the kitchen. I hesitated for moment, and then I hurried after him. "Hey, Sebastian," I fiddled with my thumbs nervously, and then peered up at him. "Are you...angry with me...per chance...?"

"How insightful of you," he replied without missing a beat, and I frowned.

I frowned because how dare he be jealous when I pretty much confessed that I loved him not a few days ago? I mean, yeah I said it because I thought he was dead and all, but still! I even kissed him! _On the mouth!_

...wait...

I stopped walking in the middle of the corridor. "Sebastian?" As I expected, he stopped as well, and turned to me. "Come closer." He came closer. I crooked my finger twice, willing him to bend to my level. The demon arched an eyebrow, but complied.

Bracing myself, I closed my eyes, leaned forward, and kissed him on the cheek. This was the second time I'd done this, and it was different from the pained, but relieved kiss I'd bestowed on him when he'd sat up in that grave. No, this was warm and sweet, and somewhat lingering. My nose brushed against his cheek, and I could feel his skin warm under my touch.

After five seconds – or two hours, who knows? – I pulled back, my breathing coming like we'd been sharing a proper kiss. Wait, had I even been breathing before? No wonder I was breathing so hard! How stupid would that be, if I passed out while kissing him on the cheek? A kiss on the mouth, yes that sounds reasonable, but the _cheek? _

I couldn't even bring myself to look him in the eye, until I heard something that sounded like a laugh. Sebastian chuckled deeply, and then smiled down at me. "Well, that was rather unexpected."

My face flamed red, and I buried it into his chest. "Shut up! Consider it an apology, even though you don't deserve one," I muttered quietly, and then I tacked on a quick _you __weirdo _just for emphasis. Couldn't let him know I was getting soft.

When I stepped back, hands cupped my face and tilted it up. Sebastian stared down at me, eyed gleaming with something dark, yet unexpectedly sweet. "You really are..." he got closer, closer, and then he stopped. His lips were just a centimetre from mine now, and I could almost feel the pressure.

And then he exhaled quietly. "As much as I would love to," he murmured softly, regretfully. "We must attend to the young master, otherwise his food will get cold," his hands moved from my face to my shoulders. "If you don't stop being so inviting," they trailed down my arms, over my back, bringing me closer. He brought his lips to my ear, and his last words were a rough whisper against the sensitive skin. "_Then I might not be able to stop_."

I jerked against him, and caught a glimpse of eyes that had begun to glow and darken, and then they were back to normal.

_This guy... _I yanked myself away and quickly resumed walking. Hopefully he would never bring that up ever again. "You were almost late," Ciel noted over the newspaper in his hands when we walked into the room.

"My apologies, young master," Sebastian replied. "I was briefly engaged."

Both of their eyes promptly went to me where I was arranging the tea things on the table. Sebastian's smirk widened, and Ciel looked faintly annoyed. He picked up the freshly poured tea and brought it to his lips. "How is he?"

"It will take some time to train him," Sebastian replied, dishing up the food. "At least he is a fast learner."

The young lord smirked. "And you are quite skilled at making people learn, aren't you?"

"Indeed," Sebastian smiled back. "Or at least, I would say that. However, when I see the young master dance, it appears than my teaching skills only go so far." I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from laughing, and then I quickly schooled my features when Ciel shot me a glare.

The boy huffed and went back to his paper, eating at the same time. After a moment, he paused and his visible eye narrowed. Something had caught his interest, and I wandered closer to peer over his shoulder, as was my custom.

_The Departed Rising From Back From the Dead? _I read the large, bolded print, and then directly under it: _Karnestein Hospital Makes Miracles! _

_You have got to be kidding me. _Ciel and I scanned over the article once, and then simultaneously turned to give the recently resurrected butler matching stares of irritation. He blinked back at us innocently. "Yes?"

Ciel looked away after a moment, muttering under his breath. I pulled away as well, and then turned when I heard the commotion occurring outside the door. I could hear Mey-Rin's voice, and the sound of someone marching towards the room. And that someone was:

"Hi earl~!" Lau beamed as he threw the doors open and strode inside, along with Ran-Mao, with Mey-Rin flailing behind them. "How are you doing?" Ciel screamed at him, only for the man to pout when he noticed Ciel's empty plate. "Aw, I was aiming for our breakfast but it looks like you're already done. That's a pity..." he suddenly noticed Sebastian and blinked. "Say, didn't you die recently?"

Sebastian smiled politely. "It is good to see you, Mr. Lau."

Lau grinned again, and glanced at me. "It seems the maid has also recovered," he wandered over to me and draped an arm over my shoulder like I was Ran-Mao. I twitched and tried hard not to sock him in the face in the sake of propriety. "Your maid is quite scary, earl~."

"_Listen when people are talking to you!_" Ciel groaned and folded his arm across his chest with a sigh of longsuffering. I quietly topped off his tea. "What on earth could you want at this hour? Surely you didn't come all this way just to mooch a breakfast off me."

That was true. The reason for their visit was much stranger. "A hospital that revives the dead?" Ciel frowned. "You mean that thing in the newspaper today?" Lau nodded over the plate of food Sebastian dished. The earl sighed. "Unfortunately I have little interest in the occult so..."

"It may not be occult though," Lau lifted his knife with a smile, effectively regaining Ciel's attention. "Karnstein Hospital seems to be doing a lot of shipping down at the back docks that you placed me in charge of."

Ciel arched an eyebrow. "Drugs?"

"No," the Chinese man took a bite of his food. "People," he chewed and swallowed. "They come shopping for foreign slaves illegally, but the amounts are quite unusual. I highly doubt a hospital could fit so many people."

Ciel took a sip of his tea. "Not that I care," he said. "But wouldn't they just dispose of them once they're not needed?"

"But wouldn't it be bad for a hospital like that to feature in the regular society's news?" Lau asked.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "In other words," he said. "You're saying that there's a possibility that this revival of the dead is occurring as a result of illegal human experimentation?"

I felt physically sick, but I hid it well. Ciel stared at the man for a few more seconds, before sighing. "If that is indeed true, then it's an interference in the regular society by an underground power," he turned to his butler. "Sebastian, investigate this immediately."

The demon bowed. "Leave it to me."

"I want to go as well," I spoke up. Ciel shot me a look that said he was about to say no, but I fixed him with a pointed stare of my own. "I'd like to go as well."

_You owe me. After everything the two of you put me through, this is the least you could do._

The young earl saw that, and he finally relented with a sigh and a jerky nod. I immediately smiled, and turned to Sebastian. He didn't even look annoyed, or worried. He looked...really pleased. _Why do you look so happy? _

And then I realised: I had more or less agreed to spend time with him while I was completely on my own, without Ciel or anyone to dive behind if he decided to shove me into a closet or something or something equally harrowing.

_Shit. _"If that is the case," hands landed on my shoulders, and I jumped. "then we should begin preparations," he grabbed my elbow and, with his cheery smile, proceeded to drag me from the room. "Excuse us, young master."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Karnstein Hospital was approximately thirty minutes from the manor, going by Sebastian-speed. This time I got to ride in the front passenger seat i.e. his arms, until we reached the hospital, instead of on his back like before.

I'd thought, with everything that I'd heard regarding the medical building, it would have looked horrifying, like some dark, haunted place. Instead, it looked...like a hospital. Painted pale grey on the outside with the name engraved at the top and embossed with what looked like gold leaf. _Well they have to put all those lavish donations to good use. _

I studied the building silently for a moment, and then looked up at the man carrying me. "You can put me down now."

Sebastian had been gazing the windows of the building, and he glanced down at me with an expression of amusement, like I was a child that had asked for something ridiculous. "Hold on," he replied, and before I could ask why, he'd already leaped onto the sill of a window on the fourth floor of the building.

Alright, what we were doing was incredibly dangerous and, had it been anyone else holding me, I would have been screaming and begging to be put down _right fucking now_. Instead, I was only mildly terrified. "I swear, if you drop me, I will come back and haunt you for eternity," I snarled, fixing my gaze on his neck and collar. Anywhere but down. Or left. Or right. Or...just anywhere.

Air gusted over my forehead when he chuckled. "That might not be so bad, as long as I could still have you."

I scowled up at him. "Shut up," I replied, although my heart was not in the game and actually stuttered oddly a few times before I managed to respond. Still, I couldn't help the small tick at the corner of my lips that would have blossomed into a grin had I not quickly tamped it down. Sebastian did something to the lock keeping the window shut and pushed it open.

Inside the empty hospital corridor smelled like antiseptic and bleach, like someone had tried too hard to ensure that all other scents were wiped away. There were rooms that looked like they held brooms and the chemicals I could smell. Sebastian set me down there and I fought the urge to turn and reattach myself back to him. Goddammit, when had I become so damned _needy?_

I shoved the unwanted urge away and looked both left and right, and then I sighed. "We can't wander around dressed like this," I decided. "We'll need to find uniforms or..."

I turned to find Sebastian opening one of the rooms. Inside was a tiny room that held a cupboard, and that cupboard held clothing. Blue and white nurse uniforms, and white lab coats that smelled like bleach and carbolic soap. I frowned when Sebastian shrugged off his black tailcoat and slid the white coat on easily. Easy for him, I'd have to strip completely.

Once he'd changed, even donning a pair of wireframe glasses that I rarely ever saw him wear (I believe the last time I'd seen him wearing them was during Prince Soma's first visit) and switching his white gloves for black ones, he turned to me and arched an eyebrow questioningly.

In response, I pointed to the door. "Out," I snapped. "I need to change."

In response, he leaned down and kissed me. "For earlier," he grinned wickedly at the stunned look on my face, and then swept out of the tiny room. For a second I stood in the same place, rooted to the spot, and then I punched the door as hard as I could. _This guy...!_

The nurses' uniform was rather similar to my maid uniform, only with a longer skirt and apron. There was a large red cross on the front of the bodice. I smoothed my hands over the torso, and then the skirt. After thinking for a second, I grabbed one of the small, neatly stacked notebooks. They were most likely used for noting down medical orders and the like. Who knows? It might come in handy.

After tucking it into my pocket, I stepped out of the room. Sebastian promptly handed me something: a wig. "Your hair is rather striking, is it not?"

Oh, right. I didn't bother asking where he'd gotten one in the ten minutes it had probably taken me to change. The wig was black, straight, and slightly longer than my actual hair. I took off the nurse's cap and pulled it on, and then I replaced the cleanly creased and folded cap. "Better?" I asked. He nodded, and then our investigation began.

The third floor of the hospital was not deserted. The further down we came, the more people occupied each floor, and the more the antiseptic smell was replaced by something more human and sickly. A people few gave us curious looks, but no one said anything. A few women stared at Sebastian a bit too long for my liking, and I resisted the urge to hiss at them like some irate cat.

Still, the hospital seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, an ordinary hospital. "We haven't found anything odd," I murmured to Sebastian quietly. Not that I'd expected us too. Not on the surface anyway.

He sighed and paused in to study the flow of nurses and orderlies that passed through. I stopped in front of him and pretended to be noting down the things he said in the notebook. "There's no help for it," he sighed. "I suppose we'll just have to ask someone."

I frowned when he made that suggestion, because I knew Sebastian's definition of _ask_. I'd had to stop him from _asking _Beast only a few months ago. That had led me to lie to her, and suffer the guilt of knowing I'd emotionally manipulated someone into giving me information.

And then she'd died.

The guilt had disappeared rather quickly though, just 24 hours after the deed had been done, and that was probably because I'd caught and exploited her at a low point in her life. I was certain that, were I were to do the same to anyone in this hospital, I wouldn't care much. "What about the offices?" The thought occurred to me. "We could check the main offices of the doctors. There might be something there."

The offices of the main doctors and the like, they had to hold something useful. "And if someone were to come by while we were searching?" He looked sceptical. In response I arched an eyebrow and gave him a look.

Well, as far as I saw it, considering that the people in charge of the hospital and occupying the main, high-ranking offices were probably _men_, then it was pretty obvious what I'd have to do. It might not work for _all_ of them, but that's why people make up backup plans.

Besides, no red-blooded male wouldn't at least be temporarily distracted by a propositioning female.

As expected, he clicked rather quickly. His eyes widened, and then he bit back a snarl. "_No._"

"Oi, it's not like I particularly _want _to do this," I snapped back. "But I don't want you _asking _the nurses, and I don't have the time or patience to talk it out of someone! This is the quickest option. You search faster than I can, so I'll just make sure no one interrupts."

Sebastian, as expected, was not exactly pleased with the decision, but he agreed (grudgingly, very grudgingly), which was how I came to be hanging round outside the door of the one of the offices. I twisted my fingers and played with the fabric of my skirt, and then I forced myself to stop. This was clearly a respectable establishment, and respectable ladies did not fiddle or rumple their clothes.

Sebastian had been trying to teach me that for a long time.

A minute passed, and then another. Anticipation and fear translated to nervousness and impatience, and I tapped out a sharp, near soundless rhythm against the bones of my wrist. Suddenly, I noticed someone.

This was not unusual, as a fair bit of people had been passing by, a few stopping to ask what I was doing, but quickly passing on once I told them I was waiting for – I glanced up at the brass nameplate on the door – Dr. Shelley.

However, while nearly all of them had passed by me soon after, this person was heading right towards me. I quickly took in the tall, but stout man with the greying brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He looked like someone's sweet old grandfather, or uncle. Maybe he was. And yet, he was working in a place like this.

One of the doctors stopped him and gestured in my direction, and I sucked in a sharp, annoyed hiss. Clearly this was Dr. Shelley.

**I'M SORRY! THIS IS A TERRIBLE ENDING, BUT I POMISED I'D UPDATE AND I DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP YOU ALL WAITING!**

**Please read and review.**


	44. Maiden Voyage

**Good news: WHOO, VACATION TIME! I CAN NOW SLEEP IN AND STAY UP LATE WRITING! Bad news: WHOO, A-LEVEL EXAMS! I MUST NOW SPEND 85% OF MY HOLIDAY STUDYING!**

**I will try to update as frequently as I can, since I probably will have to take a break after the holidays, but I will do my best! I own nothing!**

**Maiden Voyage**

My trepidation grew the closer he got, and I mentally cursed the entire situation. Although I had been the one to propose the plan, I hadn't exactly expected the man to arrive before Sebastian was done. What was taking that demon so long?

Well, there was no help for it now. _I really do not want to do this. _With a sigh, I moved away from the door. My fingers reached up and raked through the wig, mussing up the black hairs just a bit. I straightened my back, which had the added effect of pushing my chest out just the slightest, and then I injected a slight sway into my hips.

"Dr. Shelley?" His eyes widened when I stopped in front of him. _Bingo._ "I'm a new nurse. My name is Mary John," I dropped a short, professional curtsy, mimicking the nurses I'd seen earlier. Mary John, both were highly generic names.

The doctor blinked once, twice, and then frowned. "New, huh?" His eyes flickered between my face and my chest. "I didn't know about this. When did you arrive?"

"Oh, just today," I smiled as seductively as I could, and his eyes dropped again. "I was told to come see you. I was so _inspired_ by how _wonderfully_ this hospital was run," I placed a hand on my chest and giggled, looking up at him through my lashes. "Truthfully, I'm a bit nervous. I'd like to ask that you take care of me, as a senior."

_WHAT AM I SAYING?! OH GOD, CAN SEBASTIAN HEAR ME? FUCK, HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!_ The doctor laughed, no longer resembling a kindly old family member. "Well, since you asked nicely," I flinched when he placed a hand on my waist. "I'm sure I could show you a few tricks..."

_I'm going to have to kill him at some point now. It's the only thing to do._ "Oh," I forced myself to sound sultry and coquettish. "What kind of tricks?"

"Why don't we go into my office, and I'll show you?" How long had it been? Probably five minutes or so, Sebastian had to be done by now. "Maybe if you're fun, I'll take you along the next time I go for one of the meetings."

_Meetings? _"Really?" I fluttered. "When is the next one?" I allowed the doctor to lead me to the door, and I braced myself to run towards Sebastian if he was still there.

"In April," he replied distractedly, opening the door. "On the 17th."

He wasn't. Sebastian, I mean. The office room was empty, and I heaved a quick breath of relief, until I glanced up at the ceiling and spotted him clinging to the rafters in the ceiling. He did not look happy. _Please don't kill me._ I looked away before Shelley could ask me what I was staring at, and looked to him with a smile. "Sir?"

The second he turned to answer me, I moved my arm up and smacked the side of my hand against his neck, hitting an artery, as well as a few nerve bundles located just above his clavicle. The doctor made a choked sound, before his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed heavily to the ground. "Did you find everything?" I asked when Sebastian leaped down.

"More or less," he cupped my chin and studied my face with a frown. "I did not know you could sound so...seductive."

I flushed but did not pull away. "Ha. Yes, well, when you grow up in a place where sex and seduction pull in money, some things are bound to stick." Sebastian's eyes narrowed, and he rubbed the skin of my cheek softly with his thumb. I shifted closer with a pleased hum, and turned my head in his direction.

Maybe I was being a bit hypocritical, getting angry when Sebastian flirted to get information, and then doing the exact same thing. Hopefully this wouldn't be a regular thing.

A quiet groan interrupted the quiet moment between us, and I glanced down at the doctor. "Right, I forgot. This only lasts a few seconds. We should go."

Dr. Shelley would probably wake up in the next five seconds with no memory of how he came to be lying unconscious on his office floor, and wonder whether he'd actually left the windows open.

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Sebastian?" Nothing. "Sebastian?" Still nothing. "You're angry again, aren't you?" A grunt. I sighed and wrapped my arms tighter around his neck. "Do I need to kiss you again?"

He stopped on the roof of a house. I could see the manor in the distance. Or I would have, had I not been entirely focused on the demon in front of me. "Do you plan to offer me kisses every time I'm upset?" He looked curious.

I could feel my cheeks flushing and I shrugged, averting my eyes. "If it makes you feel better," I replied. A second passed, and then he smirked and turned his cheek to me. "Don't expect this to happen _every single damn time_," I leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his jaw. "I know you." He'd start claiming he was upset during random and minor situations.

"Pity," he hummed, and then resumed running until we were on the manor grounds. There was a carriage in front of the door, and a very familiar head of blonde hair was climbing into it. Instead of stopping at the door, Sebastian leaped until he was standing on the outside sill of Ciel's window. The boy was leaning against the glass with a small smile on his face, probably put there by the little girl that had just left. _Aw, so cute! _"What are you grinning at?"

Ciel screamed and spun away from the window. "Sebastian!" He snarled at the smug-looking butler. "Don't surprise me like that! _And what's with those outfits?!_" Sebastian released me and I shook off the wig with a sigh of relief.

Sebastian jumped in after me. "Well as they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do," he smirked. "Moreover, we were able to obtain some rather interesting information."

It seemed that the meeting that Shelley had mentioned was a meeting of a group (or cult) known as the Aurora Society. It was formed by the upper rank doctors of the hospital, as well as a man known as Ryan Stoker. These people were dedicated to the idea of _complete salvation of human life through medicine._ There had been no slaves, or evidence of human experimentation anywhere in the hospital (even though the documents Sebastian had purloined held proof of the latter), so the only way to find out more was to infiltrate the society itself.

Ciel tapped his finger against the wood of his desk. "When is their next meeting?"

"In April," I replied, leaning over to peek at Sebastian's notes. "On the 17th. It's supposed to be on a cruise ship, or so I gathered."

The earl huffed and leaned back in his seat. "A cruise ship? That sounds like something nobles would do." There he paused thoughtfully. "April 17th...?" His eyes suddenly snapped open and he shot to his feet. "What was the name of that boat!?"

A rustle of paper while Sebastian consulted the sheets in his hand. "The Blue Star Line's Luxury ship," he replied. "The _Campania_."

Ciel cursed loudly, and I frowned at the agitated behaviour. "Ciel, is something wrong?"

"That's the boat Lizzy's going to be on!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

The sea air smelled damp and refreshing, and a part of me giggled childishly and soared with excitement that I tried not to show. The Campania was huge! A massive black hull rising out of the water, the top painted white and strung with ribbons. People milled about on the deck, though not as many as the crowd amassed on the ground. The air smelled like alcohol, and damp, and people, and it was _glorious._

I suppose it goes without saying that Sebastian and I followed Ciel on board the Campania. What surprised me was that Snake was allowed on board this little adventure as well, along with a few snakes (they were in a crate, he'd refused to travel without them). Still, who knows, they might come in useful.

Finny gazed up at the ship with unsuppressed excitement. Bard, Mey-Rin, Tanaka, I, and even Ciel stared up at the huge, metal hull with varying levels of awe while Sebastian arranged for our luggage to be taken care of. Once that was done, we climbed aboard the ship to the calls of the captain. "It seems that we'll set sail shortly," Sebastian commented. A second later, a horn sounded. I ran to the edge of the ship to wave at the others before the ship left the shore.

Five minutes into the journey, I had gotten used to the uncomfortable rocking motion of the ship's deck, and we we'd found Lizzy's family. "Hello Lizzy," Ciel smiled, albeit a bit awkwardly. "I...I thought I'd surprise you."

_Smooth Ciel. _The blonde looked like she was about a second away from bursting into tears. I sighed and rolled my eyes, and then gaped when Lizzy tackled the earl in a huge, encompassing embrace. "You came!" She squealed. "Even though you said you couldn't, you still came! I'm so happy!"

"Elizabeth!" A sharp voice froze the little girl, and I caught sight of the woman behind her. "Please do not display such indecent behaviour in public!" She had lighter blonde hair than her daughter, and sharp green eyes with faint wrinkles underneath. Clearly the years had been kind to her, but her face looked like it lacked the ability to smile gently.

To put it simply, she looked hard. Stern. The kind of person who could not stand weakness of any sort.

The man behind her held the same stern expression, he was probably Elizabeth's father. Beside him was a boy that was probably her older brother. Like his sister, he also possessed green eyes and blond hair, and he was glaring at Ciel rather pointedly. "That's right Lizzy," he agreed. "Moreover..." his eyes narrowed even more, and he pointed at the younger boy angrily. "_I still haven't acknowledged you as my brother-in-law! So get off her already!_"

Could he not see who was clinging to who? I arched an eyebrow at the boy, and then blinked when the Marquis walked over to Ciel. His expression was not particularly friendly. Ciel sweatdropped and tried for a polite smile. "M-Marquis Midford, I have not seen you in a while..."

More staring, and then- "Long time no see, my future son~!" He grabbed Ciel in an encompassing hug, much like his daughter had, and proceeded to cuddle him like the young earl was nothing more than a large teddy bear. "You're as cute as ever!"

"Wow," I blinked and placed a hand on my hip as an argument broke out between Lizzy, her mother and her father over who was and was not allowed to cuddle Ciel, and when this cuddling could take place. "At least I know where Lizzy gets it from."

The Marchioness's head turned to Sebastian, Snake and I, but mostly Sebastian and Snake. "It has been a while," Sebastian greeted with a forced smile. "Good day to you." Instead of responding, she kept staring, and her expression wasn't exactly pleasant. She could have growled and I wouldn't have been surprised. The two of them sweatdropped and leaned back slightly. "Um, may I ask, is there something on my face...?"

In response, she pointed a finger at Sebastian. "That face of yours!" She snapped. "You possess such an indecent look! Why does your countenance always appear so lecherous?!" I snickered and masked it with a cough. Holding my laughter in became far more difficult when she suddenly whipped out a comb from absolutely _nowhere_ and a few seconds later, both males had their hair combed back from their foreheads.

_Eep!_ I squeaked internally when she suddenly turned to face me. It was funny when she was torturing them, but now that those eyes were on me, I couldn't help feeling just a bit intimidated. _I need to take lessons from this lady. _"And who might you be?" She frowned. "Why do you look so familiar?"

Familiar? Right, I looked like Ciel's aunt on his mother's side. I sent up a prayer of thanks that I'd chosen to wear a hat, so not only would it hide the odd colouring, it would hopefully prevent her from attacking me with the comb. "I'm not sure what you mean, my lady," I replied politely.

"Thalia is a relatively new addition to the household," Sebastian stepped on smoothly, saving me from having to make something up on the spot. "I'm very certain you've never seen her before," he quickly changed the subject. "Young master, should we not adjourn to the dining room? I am certain it is nearly time for lunch."

* * *

oOo

* * *

In the hour and a half that it took for lunch to be completed, I learned several things about the Midfords (but mainly about Elizabeth).

One, Elizabeth's brother had a sister complex a mile wide, and resented Ciel a lot because his sister seemed to care more for the younger boy more than she did for him.

Two, Elizabeth probably inherited a large percentage of her disposition from her father, and I wondered what part of her mother she held.

Three, the little girl seemed far too shallow for someone like Ciel. Although I did not know her very well, save for the few times she came over to bother Ciel, she always appeared far too invested in clothes and appearances. She would not make a very good wife for Ciel unless she managed to snap out of that incredibly petty mindset.

The ball at which the Aurora Society planned to convene was not for another three days, which gave us three hours to plan our moves, and 72 hours for me to have fun. This _fun_ mostly included me running around the ship and gaping at everything I saw until Sebastian, or the Marchioness, caught me and scolded me for behaving in an unladylike manner.

Truly, I do not believe I was cut out for the lifestyle of the high-class. Yes I could have forced myself to learn, but I wasn't a fan of the strict, imposed rules, which was why I decided to spend my last day of fun in the second-class deck.

In my defence, I'd only planned to only stay for an hour or so at the very least, but it had been a while since I'd let loose at a proper gathering that I was comfortable in. "Alright!" I crowed nearly two hours later, slamming my cards down on the table amidst the defeated groans. "Ah, hush your whining! Pack it in! Who wants to go again?"

"You're makin' this difficult for tha rest of us!" One of the players growled. I arched an eyebrow at the beefy man as I dragged the coins and other valuables to my side of the table, and then shrugged. It seemed I'd outstayed my welcome in this particular gathering. It was likely that they would get rowdy if I left like this, even if I had won fair and square.

"Oi, bartender!" I raised my voice loud enough to be heard across the room in spite of the noise. "How about a round of beer for everyone? My treat!" The shouts of excitement were deafening. If there was one thing I'd learned, it's that beer and other alcoholic beverages soothe the savage beast (for a while at least).

_Well, I suppose it's time to go,_ I got to my feet and tipped an imaginary hat at the inhabitants at the room, and then I turned to leave. "Pretty generous, aren't you?" I blinked at the man in front of me. He was tall, though not as tall as Sebastian, with blonde hair and green eyes behind odd glasses that reminded me of Grell's... "What's a pretty girl like you doing down here?"

_Oh you are kidding me._ What was a Reaper doing here? This probably had something to do with the Auror Society and their weird miracle-resurrection-cure. "I just came to have some fun," I smiled jauntily, and shrugged. "But it's already midnight for me, so I have to go. Who knows, maybe we'll meet again."

"Maybe," he smirked, and I resisted the urge to shudder as I hurried back to the first-class deck. Sebastian and Ciel would want to know what I'd discovered. If there was a Reaper on board, then someone was bound to die, and soon.

* * *

oOo

* * *

On the night of the ball, Elizabeth insisted on dressing me for fun. I don't particularly believe her mother was pleased by this - she'd said something about how coordinating the dressing of servants was completely unseemly - but I suppose she wasn't annoyed enough to put up a fuss.

The worst moment had to be the donning of the corset. I'd never worn a corset before, and goddammit it fucking _hurt_!What is wrong with these people? How do they wear these things so comfortably?! Actually no, I don't believe they do, if all the talk I'd heard of upper class ladies fainting was any indication.

Personally, I would have preferred dressing myself. The younger girl was far too invested in her idea of _cute_, that she failed to take into account the fact that I wasn't there to look adorable, and the overly-flouncy, lacy dresses she kept throwing at me would only get in the way of my work. "Lady Elizabeth," I spoke up after the fourth dress, which was a frothy nightmare of blue and white ribbons and lace. "Maybe you should try something _without_ so much lace?"

"Hmm?" She frowned distractedly as she picked through the multicoloured pile. "But those are the cutest! You want to look cute tonight, don't you?"

I shrugged and eyed the fabrics for something that wouldn't trip me up the second I went for a weapon. "Not necessarily. I am a servant. I'm not meant to look cute." A flash of dark red caught my eye, and I went for it curiously.

"Eh? But that's boring! You're pretty, so no one will know!" It wasn't as flouncy as the others, although the skirt was still wider than I would have liked. The dress was of satin, and layered in a gradient that so that it was darkest at the very bottom. Black roses decorated the sweetheart neckline, and there were no sleeves or straps. "Don't you want to look cute for Sebastian?"

"_What?!_" I froze and turned to stare at the younger girl with wide eyes. "Look cute for-? What does he have to do with this?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips, apparently scowling at my choice of dress, and shook her head. "You like Sebastian, don't you?" I opened my mouth to deny this, as was my _modus operandi_ when confronted with my feelings, but she ploughed on without giving me a chance. "Men want the women around them to look cute and helpless. That's why I always try to look cute for Ciel! I want to be the kind of wife he likes."

I stared at her small, adorable face for a whole minute, and then bit back the scathing comment I was certain I would have made. "That is...incredibly stupid." Okay, so maybe I didn't bite it back hard enough. Elizabeth started at my words, and her eyes widened in shock.

Oh well, since I'd already spoken out of turn, I might as well continue. "Any man who sees a woman's strength as a threat to his own is no man," I undid the hooks on the back of the dress and stepped into it. "Any _person_ who sees another's strength as a threat to their own was never strong in the beginning," I pulled the dress up and did the clasps up as best as I could. "Being cute is one thing, but refusing to be anything else other than a pretty face is terrible."

_Hmm, this will do._ As soon as I could, I was cutting my way out of this abomination of an undergarment. Once I was certain that I was sufficiently presentable, I nodded to the younger girl, and walked out of the room. I hoped she realised that I wasn't intentionally being cruel, but someone did need to shock her out of that state of mind.

"Did you plan to go to the ball with no shoes?" Sebastian materialized in front of me, his eyes darting to my bare feet. I glanced down at them as well, and then shrugged. If I could, I would. Dancing barefoot is always fun. He chuckled quietly, and then got down on one knee. "Your foot." I lifted my left foot unquestioningly, and cocked my head when he produced a set of black heels with red soles. I'm not sure how he knew my foot size, but I wasn't about to ask.

He helped me don both, first the left, and then the right, with my hands placed on his shoulders for balance. The extra four inches put me just below his nose when he stood. Sebastian brushed his knuckles against my cheek. "You look ravishing, my darling." I murmured a thank you, and reached up to take his hand. "You should go back to Lady Elizabeth though. Weren't you both getting ready together?"

"Ha, yeah," I laughed nervously. "I don't think she likes me anymore? I may have said some things..."

In my defence, it was all in good will. Sebastian exhaled and cupped my face with both hands. "You let your mouth run away with you, didn't you?" I was about to disagree with this, but the stern look on his face made me rethink my argument. "You need to think before you speak, my dear. Even if you meant no harm," he patted both my cheeks firmly when I pouted. "Go back. We must be ready by the time the ball begins."

Elizabeth had apparently forgiven my earlier words. Or she'd just decided to not mention it. Either way, she behaved as though I'd never said the things I'd said and set about working on my make-up. One application of facial products later, and several minutes of pleading before I was allowed out of the corset, I was done.

The ball had already begun by the time we descended from our rooms. People dressed in expensive clothes and draped in glittering gems moved around the floor and between tables piled high with cakes, thin cuts of meat, vegetables, and savoury snacks. "Ciel, look, look!" Elizabeth pointed at one of the tables. "That cake is so cute! I'll go get some for you too!"

I stared after the younger girl over the top of the plumy black fan as she skipped into the crowd, resplendent in a pale pink dress with darker red ribbons and black lace. _She's so cute and sweet, but she acts like such an airhead. It gets on my nerves._

_...anyway, who cares? Look at all this food! _I turned to ask Ciel if I could grab something for him (and ultimately myself) and then I noticed Snake staring at me intently. He blinked once. "You smell nice. _Says Dan._"

"Thank you, Snake," I grinned and patted him on the shoulder, and mentally patted Sebastian on the shoulder for not getting visibly jealous. "You clean up well too." At that, he flushed, and my smile widened. "Anyway, Ci – I mean, young master," I turned to Ciel. "Shall I fetch you something to eat?"

Sebastian shook his head, and tapped my upper arm. "I will tend to the young master. I need you to look for anything related to the Aurora Society. After all, it's tonight."


	45. The Aurora Society

**I had fun with this chapter. I own nothing!**

**The Aurora Society**

It was obvious that the signal for the opening of the Aurora Society's meeting would not be anything obvious enough to call attention of everyone present at the ball. Only those actively searching for it would notice, which was what I was doing.

I circled the dance floor once, pausing a few times to take a bite of some food, or brush off someone's attention. The fan helped, I could use it to hide the better part of my face. The dress and the heels however, did not, and my feet were aching by the time I returned to my original spot. "Ow," I moaned quietly. "Stupid shoes..."

"Did you find it?" Ciel asked. I brushed away the dull throb of pain in my feet and nodded.

It had taken a while, seeing as it had been an incredibly subtle sign, but I'd eventually spotted one of the waiters moving around with a tray champagne glasses. Most of the glasses were full, but a few of them would be empty and placed near the edge. Every so often, he'd stop by a group of people and offer the tray to them.

"It's not only one though," I snapped the fan shut, which took a few tries because of the amount of lace. "I spotted about three. I'm guessing only people that are a part of the society would know to take one," I picked up a plate from one of the tables and filled it with snacks.

The earl nodded thoughtfully. "Good. Don't let the signal out of your sight." I resisted the urge to salute, and turned to scan the hall again for the server.

"_Did you see that skin?_"

I froze, and turned around. Three women stood a few feet away from Snake, their faces half hidden by brightly coloured fans. They weren't doing a good job of pretending not to stare or whisper.

"_It looks just like a snake, doesn't it?_" I could feel my teeth gritting, especially when Snake seemed to shrink a bit under their stares. "_When did this place turn into such a freak show?_"

Their stupid, high-pitched titters grated on my nerves. I was already moving forward before I was even physically aware (which seems to be a thing with me). I'm not sure what I planned to do, but I do know it involved the plate of food in my hand. "Thalia," Ciel spoke, and I forced myself to stop, even though the urge to ignore him and march over was strong. The earl turned to Snake coolly. "You aren't used to crowds?"

Snake looked down. "I look different from everyone else," he said. "And since I'm with you, people will laugh at you too. _Says Dan._"

"So what?" Ciel's response surprised the scaled man, and his eyes rose to face the younger male. "You're another person, so of course you look different. What do you need to be ashamed for? Besides," Ciel picked one of the snacks from my plate and ate it. "I'm free to be with whoever I want. No one has the right to say anything about it."

_So wise,_ I mentally dabbed away invisible tears from my eyes, and then those eyes widened when Sebastian placed a hand on Snake's shoulder. "That's right," he encouraged. "Right now, you are the footman of a distinguished noble family. So straighten up and have some confidence."

_I could hug you right now,_ I stared up at Sebastian with large, emotion-filled eyes. His caught mine, and he smiled. If he planned to say anything, our attention was interrupted by a voice behind us. "How about a glass?"

Sebastian and I turned in time to see one of the guests behind us pick an _empty glass_, and begin to ascend the stairs. I quickly handed my plate to Snake with a smile. "You can have that!" And then I picked up my skirt and hurried after the others.

When I reached the two of them, Sebastian handed something to me. It was a dark red wig. _So many hair colour changes,_ I blinked at it, and then pulled it on with some difficulty. The hair on the wig was straight, and came down to my chin. Wait, where had I seen this hairstyle before?

Ciel hissed at the demon when he saw me. "You bastard."

"It was the only one I had," Sebastian smiled innocently. Oh yes, this was Madame Red's hairstyle. I reached up and pulled Sebastian's ear. He and Ciel had donned wigs as well, with Ciel now owning a mop of pale blonde hair and a bandage instead of an eye-patch, and Sebastian possessing longer black hair that was tied back with a dark red ribbon.

The man we'd been tailing finally stopped in front of a room, where he was met by two servers, one holding a jug of ridiculously water. _What the fuck? What is in that water? Gold? Crushed diamonds? The Virgin Mary's tears? _"That's quite an extravagant price for water," Sebastian noted. "Which probably means that if one can't afford it, they're not qualified to get in."

The server holding the jug filled the man's glass with the expensive-but-probably-completely-normal water, and the other held the door open for him to enter, and then shut it afterwards. We waited for a bit, and then Ciel took a step out from our hiding place. "Please wait," Sebastian grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. "According to my info, the Aurora Society has a fixed greeting. Those who do not know it will be made to leave."

"And you couldn't tell us that sooner?" I frowned.

Ciel scowled. "So what is this _secret greeting_," he asked. Sebastian motioned for us to come closer, and then he whispered it quietly.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" I yelled, only I couldn't yell so it was more like an intense whisper.

"Do we really have to do that?!" Ciel's expression was just as horrified as my own.

Sebastian nodded, his own visage one of complete seriousness. "If you don't, we will be seen as outsiders and made to leave immediately. So please, under no circumstances must you hesitate."

This would kill me, but I sucked it up, let the waiter pour me a glass of expensive water (and I was right, it was perfectly normal water I could get this from a tap), and stepped into the room where we were almost immediately accosted by a tubby man (what was it with aristocratic men and growing fat?) with his own glass.

He glowered down at us. "Are you first timers?"

We eyed each other, and then eyed him. _This is going to kill me._ "Th-the complete flame in our chests," Ciel started, and I joined him so that our words came simultaneously. "Shall not be extinguished by anyone. We are...THE PHEONIX!" We finished, adopting the ridiculous pose that I guess was supposed to represent a bird rising.

...it actually worked. The man saluted us in return, handed us some membership badges, and walked away. "Oh my god, we are never doing that again," I covered my face in embarrassment.

Loud laughter made me look up. Loud, eerie, _familiar _laughter. "To think you'd ever do something like that~!" A man clad in black robes and long silver hair chortled loudly, tears running down his cheeks. "Saying something like that with such serious faces!"

"Undertaker!" I squealed and launched myself at him. He caught me easily, and patted me on the head, still giggling. I had more or less resigned myself to the fact that I would never have any _normal _friends, but I liked Undertaker so I didn't mind. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled as I pulled away to look up at him. "My job," he replied simply. "The hospital is a regular customer of mine."

"Regular?" I repeated curiously, and then I remembered Sebastian and went to stand beside him because hey, the last thing I needed was a jealous demon.

Ciel frowned. "We're investigating the illegal experimentation going on here though," he told the mortician. "Do you know anything about this revival of the dead?"

Undertaker giggled, a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth. He must have found our greeting pretty funny. "Just a sec," he pretended to think for a moment. "If you want information, then I want my compensation. Let's see...how about you do that pose once more?"

"WHO THE HELL WOULD DO THAT STUPID-!"

"**THE PHEONIX!**"

We turned to see the a familiar blonde performing the most flamboyant version of an already bizarre greeting. Ciel promptly hid behind Sebastian, as did I. "IS THAT THE VISCOUNT DRUITT?!" _Kill me now,_ I thought. _Better yet, kill him now. Save London from this pervert. _"What is he doing here?"

"Come to think of it, he did have a doctor's license didn't he?" Sebastian reminded us.

_I hate this man and... _"Why the fuck is he coming this way?!"

Sebastian barely had time to mutter quick, _mind your language_, before the blonde count had stopped in front of us. "Oh my," he smiled. "Are you beginners?"

"Yes," Sebastian smiled back charmingly. "We saw the article in the newspaper."

I grabbed Ciel by the arm while both men talked. "Quick, while he's distracted," I hissed. We began to back away from the pervert, but I guess luck was not on our side that evening.

"Oh?" The two of us froze when he noticed our escape, and promptly got in our faces. Well, Ciel's face. I heaved a quick, but somewhat guilty, sigh of relief. "Have I met you somewhere before?"

"NO!" Ciel yelped quickly. "This is our first meeting! I'm sure of it!"

The viscount got even closer, and even dared to touch Ciel's face. "Indeed, I surely wouldn't forget such a beautiful boy such as yourself." _I am going to punch you in that ridiculous face of yours if you do not back away from my cousin._ "Ah, but what a pitiful bandage you have."

Ciel looked like he was going to have a seizure. "M-My father said that, if I came here, they could heal it." _Thinking on your feet, excellent._

While the viscount lost himself in some soliloquy about Ciel's eyes, we took that chance to slowly back away from the weirdo. "Creep," I muttered under my breath.

Ciel shuddered, and then straightened. "Speaking of creeps, where did Undertaker go?"

"Hey," I pouted. "Undertaker is not a creep! But I do wonder what he meant by the hospital being a regular of his." Maybe the hospital purchased dead bodies from him. The bodies that didn't have any proper family to pay for funerals.

"Hey, you three!" Suddenly, arms hands landed on Ciel's shoulder, and mine, and I screamed internally. _HOLY SHIT HE FOUND US! _"It's starting."

Oh, right. A door at the other end of the room had opened, and four men had come inside bearing a light brown coffin on their shoulders. They placed the coffin on a table in front of the room, and stepped back to make way for a man with dark brown hair and eyes. He was wearing a white lab-coat with the sleeves rolled up, over a white suit, and pinned to the lapels of the coat was a badge similar to the membership badges we'd been given, only larger and somewhat fancier.

_The founder, Ryan Stoker._ This was the man who had started the Aurora Society. He looked harmless, but I'd learned many times how little that meant. He stood in front of the room, and silence descended over the crowd. "The complete flame in our chests," he began. _Not this again. _"Will not be extinguished by anyone." _Oh my god._ "We are, THE PHEONIX!"

_Don't laugh. Don't laugh._ Sebastian pinched my arm, and that helped, even if it hurt.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he bowed. "Thank you for coming to today's research presentation of the Aurora Society's _Complete Salvation of Mankind Through Medicine!_ What is complete salvation, you say? That is...COMPLETE HEALTH!"

He sounded like a walking advertisement instead of a doctor. "A healthy body! Healthy teeth! A healthy spirit _housed within _a healthy body! And finally," he punched the air in a display of vitality. "A healthy mood! Healthiness is truly splendid!"

_He's too damn excited, please stop._

"However," he became serious. "There is the worst kind of health issue that we cannot overcome, no matter how hard we try. What is that, you ask? Well, it is," he placed a hand on the coffin. "Death!" I blinked. _Um, I don't think death is a disease..._ "And the great power that will save us from death, is the Aurora Society's medicine!" Awed gasps rose from the crowd, and I wondered whether this was real or if nobility really was this gullible. "We will now show you, ladies and gentlemen, the fruits of our research!"

The lid of the coffin was raised, and I quickly inhaled a breath of fresh air before the scent of stale corpse permeated the room. The corpse was female, a young woman named Margaret Connor who lost her life in an accident.

"Her death did not only put her, but also her family's hearts into bad health," Ryan gestured to a sobbing couple standing beside the coffin. "I want to save them completely!"

I inhaled shallowly, and grimaced. "That body's been dead for at least a week," I flipped out the fan and tried to blow away the worst of the stench. "This isn't going to work." Unless they'd found a way to rejuvenate all her cells, and replace the old, coagulated blood, then this could not work.

"The scent of death is so intense it's causing my nose to twitch," Sebastian grimaced.

Up in front, Ryan had pulled the cloth away from something to reveal a complicated looking machine with wires trailing from it, much to the amazed gasps and applause from the inhabitants of the room. He and some other men attached what looked like wires to the corpse, concentrating most of them around her chest and head. I wondered why this seemed really familiar.

"Well then ladies and gentlemen, I will now show you, _the complete salvation!_"

Electricity sparked across the wires, and jumped in coloured arcs in the air above the corpse. That was when it hit me, why this all seemed like a bad case of déjà vu.

"_Come, rise from the death!_" The mad scientist crowed once the sparks had subsided. "_Like the phoenix!_"

Thick, expectant silence hung over the gathering, and then the hand of the corpse twitched and rose. To my shock, the body sat up in its coffin, stitched together and skin unnaturally blotchy, but looking for all the world like it was alive. The couple embraced the woman, crying out their thanks, and the whole room erupted into applause.

_Shit. _I took a step closer to Sebastian and Ciel. "What on earth is going on!?" Ciel yelled above the cheers. "Did he really revive a corpse?!"

My hands were already going for my knives. "Whatever this is, it is not going to end well."

I was right because, a second later, the mouth of the corpse opened wide, wider than a human jaw should be able to, and chomped down on her mother's neck. Blood sprayed into the air, and the cheers were replaced by horrified screams as the corpse, apparently done with her mother, proceeded to climb out of its box. "Sebastian!"

"Yes, my lord!" Table knives embedded themselves in the monster's chest, and it fell backwards, bent in an unnatural pose and making the strangest, most grotesque sounds.

And then it stood up again, its bones cracking in a horrifying manner, until it was facing us again. "What on earth is she?!" Ciel gaped.

Sebastian frowned. "I'm sure I stabbed her in the heart," he said. "This is a being that I do not understand."

Ryan cursed, and turned to the men behind him. "Well what are you standing around for? Take her down already!" Both men pulled out guns and fired rounds of bullets at the corpse, which didn't work. The head twisted around nearly 180 degrees, and then she launched herself at them. I winced at the screams, and then sounds of bone breaking and flesh tearing.

"Wait!" Ciel called out, but the scientist had already turned tail and run away. _Fucking coward. _"How are we supposed to take care of that thing?"

"She's already dead anyway," I told them, flipping out a knife. "There's no blood pumping. She's just an automaton made of meat instead of metal. I'm guessing that the only way to kill it would either be by fire, or by cutting off its head..."

At the same time, another voice chimed in. "These guys can't be killed unless you smash in their heads!" And the blonde I'd met the evening before flew in, riding on some weird contraption with wheels and razors underneath. There was the sound of meat and bone being ground up, and then the body fell to the ground, the head gone.

Blood and brain matter splattered across the floor, and I grimaced even as some morbid part of me urged me forward. "That was...gory..."

The man stopped in front of us, smirking carelessly. "Ya should pay more attention to the important stuff. Luckily ya have this smart beauty." I twitched and quietly inched closer to Sebastian. The reaper pulled a small notebook from his pocket and flipped through the pages, before gaping. "Ah, see? This chick's totally dead after all! I so told them I'd collected her properly!"

_Why are all the reapers we meet so strange?_ I sighed as the man proceeded to collect the soul of the dead mother. If these were the sort of people that were going to judge my soul, then I would rather not.

"That getup," the reaper frowned curiously. "Don't tell me you're the rumoured Sebas-chan?"

Sebastian twitched, and I could see the annoyance building underneath that calm smile. "I have quite an aversion to that name, however I am indeed the Phantomhive family butler, Sebastian Michaelis. You are?"

He saluted casually with the hand holding his notebook. "The Shinigami Dispatch Association, Collection Division: Ronald Knox," he grinned. "Thanks for taking care of my senior." _Senior?_ He probably meant Grell.

"You just said that they can't be killed unless you smash their heads," Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "Do you Shinigami know something about this revival of the dead?"

Ronald shrugged and shook his head. "Nope, we don't know the details either. We just got reports of corpses whose souls had already been collected were moving around and stuff. Since then administration put in a claim saying that it was our miss. I came here to investigate, but this was just a genuinely soulless corpse."

"So the dead didn't get revived," Ciel murmured. "It was just the corpse moving around."

I folded my arms across my chest with a huff. "Like I said, just an automaton. The electricity probably elicited some sort of response in the brain and nervous system. It's not alive, so the most you can do is just stop it moving." Cutting off its head would stop whatever circuit had been created. I understood its ability to move, but not why it had attacked the people. Automatons, according to what I knew, were unable to carry out actions other than what they'd been ordered to do. It didn't look like Ryan had any control over them however...

I was knocked out of my thoughts by an arm draping around my shoulders. "Pretty _and_ smart, aren't you a catch!" _Please let go of me._ "Hey, haven't I seen you before?"

"Ah, probably not?" I slipped out from under his arm.

Ronald frowned. "Yeah, I'm sure I have. You're the girl with the weird soul." I tensed, frozen in shock. I hadn't heard that in a while, I'd almost forgotten. "Yeah, I saw you last evening. I remember thinking, _wow, administration is going to have a field day with this!_"

Why? What was wrong with my soul? What was so messed up about it that every reaper I'd met had felt the need to comment on it? "We don't have time for this!" Ciel snapped, pulling me back to the situation at hand. "It looks like our only option is forcing Ryan to spit it out. Let's go!"

However, the second we turned to leave, there was the sound of an engine revving, and Sebastian spun around just in time to grab the machine before it could kill us. "If administration gets wind of there being a demon on board," Ronald told us. "You betcha they'll go _aren't you just covering up the fact that you let the beast snatch up all the souls_?" He leaned forward, putting more pressure. "Dontcha think that those kinda false accusations will get me in a _loooooot_ of trouble? So do me a favour, and _just disappear._"

_Reapers are crazy._ "Sebastian, Thalia and I will go on ahead," Ciel called over his shoulder, already heading for the door. "After your done playing, hurry up and follow!"

I didn't want to leave, but it wasn't like I'd be of much help. "Don't you dare fucking get hurt!" I yelled, and then I hurried after the boy. We found ourselves at the top of a winding flight of stairs, at bottom of which a strip of white had disappeared behind a corner. "Damned coward," I hissed, and then I blinked as the earl pulled a gun from...somewhere, and cocked it expertly. "I didn't know you could shoot."

"You don't know everything about me," he replied easily. I shrugged, fair enough. "So how did you know how to kill the corpse?"

I gave him a strange look. "I read _Frankenstein_," I replied. "It's in your study. I borrowed it two weeks ago. Have you never read it?" The earl shook his head. "Well, that's probably where the idea of reanimating dead corpses with electricity came from. I just adapted." We kept walking, the darkness growing thicker, and I wondered if Sebastian was doing alright. Suddenly, Ciel tensed, and then he spun around the barrel of the gun pointed at whoever was behind us. "Who's the-_Elizabeth?!_" Ciel and I stared at the blonde and I had more or less forgotten about.

"Lizzy, what are you doing here?" Ciel lowered his gun. He had good reflexes with that thing.

She pouted, and I noticed that she was holding a cake. Of all things, a _cake_. "Were you planning to shoot your fiancée!?" She frowned. "I saw you run off, so I followed you! Even though I told you to wait, you just ran off!" She turned to glare at me. "Were you with _her_ all this time?"

_I am literally seven years older than him, and his cousin. Wait, so are you. Huh, nobility is weird. Stop thinking about this. _"Lizzy..." Ciel groaned.

"Ah!" She immediately lost her glare and beamed cutely at him. "Oh right, this is the cake I got for you-!"

Ciel quickly covered her mouth and hissed for her to be quiet. "I'm sorry but I can't be fussed with you right now," he told her in no uncertain terms. "It's dangerous here, so go back to Aunt Frances. Got it?" With that he pulled away and motioned for me to follow him.

This was what I meant by Elizabeth not being the best wife for Ciel. She would be of no use to Ciel. She couldn't help him, and sometimes her incessant whining and insistence would grate on his nerves. I wished it wasn't so, since she really did seem to care for him and his wellbeing.

Our descent led us into the bottom freight storage area of the ship. I'm not sure where Ciel found a lamp, but it came in handy otherwise we'd be tripping over everything. Suddenly, we heard a noise in the corner of the room. "Who is it!?"

It turned out to be Snake, who hissed at the sudden flash of light. "Snake!" I lowered my knives and walked over to him, and then I paused because he was surrounded by his snakes, including a lot of really large ones. "What are you doing down here?"

"The food was really good," he replied. "So I thought I'd share it with everyone. _Says Dan._"

_Cute, _I placed a hand on my hip and smiled slightly while Ciel lowered his gun with a sigh. "You know, the cake was even better than the food." We yelped and whirled around to face the whining blonde. _Has she always been this annoying?_ "Come on, don't leave me~!"

"_I told you to go back up!_" Ciel yelled at her.

The little blonde pouted. "But I wanted you to eat the cake!" She wheedled. "It's the cake with strawberries you like so much! I even got the biggest piece for you, see?" In her hand was an empty plate, and behind her was something I'd hoped to not have to see.

"Both of you, get back!" I screamed, and then I jumped back to avoid the teeth that came down. Ciel yanked his fiancée out of the way, dropping the lantern in the process. The beam landed on the monster making its way towards us, having missed us by an inch the first time. "Are you kidding me?!" I yelled at no one. There were more of these things?

Ciel's eyes landed on the insignia on the coffin behind the corpse. "That sign...Ryan brought another revived corpse?"

I quickly slashed through the neck of the body, severing it entirely from the body. Blood splashed on my dress, but I paid it no mind. "How many of these things do you think there are?" I wondered, and then I blinked when Snake raised a hand to point. "Snake?"

"That bird mark," he replied. "There's a lot more over there. _Says Oscar_."

Our eyes followed his finger to where it pointed, and widened in horror. Rows upon rows of coffins filled the other side of the storage room, hanging from chains. "Fuck," the curse tumbled out before I could stop it, and then I couldn't stop it as the coffins began to shake and an unholy noise rose up. "Fuck, _fuck, fuck!_"

The first coffin flew open, and then another, and another. The corpses fell to the ground, and then climbed to their feet, bones cracking, teeth grinding, still making that strange groaning sound. "Lizzy, run!" We ran, and I kicked off the heels so I could run faster.

"Dammit, they're in front of the exit!" How many of these things were there?! What had Ryan planned to do?

One of the monsters lunged at Lizzy, and Ciel quickly shoved her behind him. The bullet went right through the creature's forehead, and it fell to the ground. One down, maybe two hundred to go. "Snake, take Lizzy to the top of the luggage!"

"You go too! I'll hold them off!" I sliced down one, and then another, and even more, but there were so many of them. I couldn't hold them back forever. "Shit!" I spun around and found myself almost face to face with one, but then it suddenly fell to the ground.

Snakes. The snakes had wound themselves around the corpses, preventing them from moving. "Red!" I snapped myself out of my daze, and grabbed Snake's outstretched hand. He quickly pulled me up and I heaved a sigh of relief. The thrill of coming face-to-face with death was one I hadn't experienced in a while. _Where is that demon when you need him?_

"It seems they can't climb up here," Ciel exhaled, gazing down at the crowd of bumbling but still incredibly dangerous corpses.

"What are they?" Snake asked. "Apart from not being affected by our poison, they have a horrible smell. _Says Webster._"

I inhaled deeply to calm my nerves, and wiped my hands against the skirt of my (already ruined) dress. "As far as we know, they're reanimated corpses brought back to life using electricity," I explained. "They're not intelligent, and I don't think they can sense pain at all. I suppose the lack of intelligence is a bit lucky."

"Lucky?" Lady Elizabeth stared at me in horror that might have partially been because I was covered in blood and maybe some human viscera.

Ciel sighed. "It's lucky because, if they were smarter, they'd head upstairs. They'd find more food there, wouldn't they."

"_Food?!_"

She was ignored. "One thing we haven't tested is their hearing," Ciel pondered. "If they sense with their hearing, we might be able to distract them and get away."

We looked at each other silently, and then Snake produced the plate he'd been eating from prior to this. "How about we try throwing this?_ Says Emily._" He suggested. Ciel studied the china plate for a moment, and then nodded.

The plate shattered a few metres away, but none of the corpses reacted to the sound at all. I cursed quietly. How were they following us? They couldn't smell us, some of them had no noses. They couldn't see us, and we'd just demonstrated that they couldn't hear us. So how? Something about us had to be attracting them.

Suddenly, the platform of luggage began to shake. "What's going on!?" Ciel yelled.

The corpses had begun to tear at the luggage with their teeth and nails, shoving it from side to side. There were too many of them for the snakes to be effective. I threw knife after knife, but with every one that went down, another one came. Finally I groaned loudly. "Sebastian, where the fuck are you?!"

"You called?"

A hail of table knives embedded themselves in the foreheads of several of the corpses, and then I spotted him, standing casually on the stairs leading upstairs. I nearly sagged with relief. "Sebastian!" Ciel growled at him. "What are you standing around for? Clean them up already!"

The butler bowed. "As you wish," he leaped into the fray. "It isn't very stylish," he said aloud. "But if smashing their heads is the way to kill them, then I suppose _this,_" he grabbed one by the back of the head, and slammed it into the floor. "_Would be the fastest way._"

Ciel hid Elizabeth's face in his chest so she wouldn't have to see, while Snake closed his eyes. I...I stared in awe. There was something horrifyingly brutal about this, but also something fascinating. This was the most demonic I'd ever seen him in this form. For some strange reason...it made me happy.

And then it was over, and there was nothing but blood and skin and bodies on the ground, and I couldn't take my eyes off the demon walking towards me. He stopped right in front of the platform, and smiled sweetly, in spite of the bloodstains all over him. "I'm done. Shall I help you down?"

I was about to nod, but then I remembered myself, and I pretended to huff. "You're filthy," I replied with calmness that I did not feel.

His smile only widened. "So are you." Right, I was still covered in bloodstains. I looked away shyly, and then met his eyes again.

"Could you both pick a better time and place to do this?" Ciel snapped from behind us, and I jumped in surprise. He looked incredibly pale, but still annoyed. "As for you, don't touch me with those hands. They're filthy."

Sebastian looked down at his blood-spattered gloves, and smiled. "Yes my lord." He exchanged them for clean ones, and I'm not sure where he got them from, and lifted Ciel down, and then Lizzy, and finally me.

His hands spanned my waist, as I knew they could, and I placed my hands on his shoulders for stability. He lifted me like I was made of glass, and then placed me on the blood-covered ground. I felt the liquid squelch between my bare toes, but I didn't mind. "You were late," I narrowed my eyes at him. "I nearly died."

One of his hands trailed higher up my back. "I wouldn't have let that happen, Thalia."

"Oi!" Ciel yelled, and I promptly jumped backwards again, only he wouldn't let me move too far away. "Time and place! Couldn't you have done this more elegantly? Just like a beast."

Sebastian smiled, but didn't remove the arm that was around my waist. "My apologies. It was an emergency. They are quite weak though," he stared at the corpses. "Their bodies are much softer than a human's."

"That's probably because they've started rotting," I suggested. "What I want to know is why there were so many of them on this ship!"

Sebastian cocked his head to the side. "I think..." he suddenly tossed several knives to the side, and we all spun around to see the man we'd been looking for flinch in surprise. "It would be good to ask him."


	46. Undead

**ANNOUNCEMENT, ANNOUNCEMENT! EVERYONE STOP OKAY YOU GUYS I JUST GOT SOME AMAZING FANART FROM HORROR'S BRIDE! I'M SCREAMING IT'S SO GREAT! HOLY SHIT, FUCK, SOMEONE HOLD ME I CAN'T DO THIS *collapses in on self***

**The link is in my profile! I also posted it on my tumblr blog! I own nothing, absolutely nothing! *breathes into paper bag***

**Undead**

Huh, so that's where he had been hiding. "It's not like that!" The scientist pleaded as Sebastian backed him into a corner, and then grabbed his arm in a bruising grip. "I never meant to bring them back in this unhealthy state! Please listen to me! I'm in a hurry and – _ow!_"

The irony of it all. Sebastian's smile was positively angelic as he cornered the shaking man. "No need to be hasty," he replied, easily twisting Ryan's arm behind his back and pinning it there. "There's plenty of time until we reach New York, so we'll listen to your story leisurely."

"Wait a second!" He yelled, twisting frantically in spite of Sebastian's painful grip. "You can't do that!"

I placed a hand on my hip and frowned. "Why not? Sebastian already cleaned them all up..." I trailed off as a terrible thought occurred to me, and I snarled. "_You didn't_."

At least he had the grace to look ashamed. "This ship has the latest gigantic boiler with a reciprocating steam engine installed at the centre. This place is divided into two sections, with the boiler separating them."

"So?" Ciel frowned impatiently. "What of it?"

I hissed and held myself back from punching something, mostly the man being held. "That means that there are _two_ storage rooms!" And another group of newly reanimated corpses. I grabbed Ryan by the lapels of this coat and yanked him down so we were face to face. "How many of these things did you bring on board bastard? Spit it out!"

His eyes widened in terror. "About ten times as many as there are here!"

_Ten times?!_ "Well," Sebastian sounded unruffled. "This has turned into something quite unpleasant."

"Do you think _unpleasant _covers this?!" Ciel yelled. "Even one of these things is a hassle! Can you imagine ten times as many!?"

The passengers. They wouldn't know. They were sitting ducks, all of them. I shoved Ryan away in disgust and folded my arms across my chest. "At this point, they've probably escaped and are moving freely about the ship," I spat. "This is bad." Bad didn't even begin to cut it, but I couldn't think of a better synonym.

Ciel scowled, and then turned to the demon. "Sebastian, take my aunt and the others to a safe place. Once you're done, come back and find us."

"And what do you plan to do, young master?" _Yeah, what are we doing?_

The earl refilled the bullet chambers of his gun, and set clicked it shut. "We'd just be a burden," he replied. "Also, I have a gun. Thalia has her knives. We'll be fine for a while." Sebastian nodded and turned to me. Before I could move, he lifted one of my hands to his lips and brushed a kiss against the knuckles, and then he was gone. "Damned demon," I heard Ciel snarl in the background of the static playing in my mind, and then I forced myself to focus once again. "How about telling me everything?" The barrel of the gun was pointed at Ryan's temple. "And be brief, because I'm not feeling very patient."

"First of all, how do we get rid of them?" I asked. The doctor looked confused, and terrified. This was probably due to the gun pointed at his head, and also the snake that had coiled around him as a makeshift rope after Sebastian had left. "We can stop them by smashing their heads, but is there some way to shut all of them down immediately?"

He swallowed hard, and dropped his head. "Well, there is one way..." he replied hesitantly. "I have a machine. It renders them inactive by exposing them to special supersonic waves..."

Ciel arched an eyebrow. "And where is this machine?"

Ryan was silent for a moment, until the boy shifted his trigger finger. "It's in my room in first class! There's a freight elevator in the boiler room that we can use to get upstairs."

"Well then, that seems simple enough," I grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him to his feet. "Let's go."

My feet were still bare, and I could feel the blood splashing against my ankles and staining between my toes. Every so often I'd step on something suspiciously slimy that I'd write off as brain matter, or muscle fibre. Still, I found it odd that I didn't feel the horror I would have felt months ago. I didn't feel anything at all, no pity or fear.

"Hmm? Thalia, it seems you were right about the electricity." Ciel's comment brought me back to the present. "I have another question though. What was the purpose of bringing these guinea pigs to America?"

Ryan shifted, and then hunched his shoulders. "I...I can't tell you."

"I see," Ciel sighed disappointedly. "Then I suppose you want your ears pierced?" He cocked the gun again. Ryan screamed and pleaded that, without him, we wouldn't be able to use the device. The earl shrugged. "It's messy, but I suppose we'll have to stick to smashing their heads."

_Whoo, go Ciel. You're really taking to this Dark Noble thing. _Something shifted behind me, and then I remembered Elizabeth. Oh, right. She was here too. And she was staring at Ciel like she'd never seen him before. "_A certain company bought our Complete Salvation technology!_"

"_A certain company_?" I repeated with my eyebrows raised. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific sir."

The doctor drooped and visibly hunched in on himself, as though trying to make himself smaller. "It's called Osiris," he revealed on a mumble. "Rumour has it they're developing a new drug."

We reached the turbine engine room that would lead to the boiler room. A blast of hot, damp air hit us, adding to the already sticky sensation of blood drying on my skin. Now I shuddered. "Snake, take your snake off him," Ciel ordered. "This will go easier if we pretend to be comrades." No one would stop us, although they would ask why I was covered in blood. I positioned Ryan in front of me, both for cover, and to prevent him from running.

"Hey, passengers aren't allowed down here!" One of the workers marched over to us.

Ryan faced him squarely. "The complete flame in our chests..." _Ohmigod not this again._ "Shall not be extinguished by anyone. We are...THE PHEONIX!" _How many times am I going to see this?_ I groaned as both men proceeded to do the salute. How many people were part of this cult? "Would you let my friends and I use the elevator? They are comrades as well, right?" _What?_

Ten seconds later, Ciel and I were on the floor, faces flushed in embarrassment, with Snake and Elizabeth trying to comfort us. Still, we managed to fool him, and he led us over to the boiler room.

Suddenly, the entire ship gave a violent lurch, and I grabbed for something to steady myself. "What the hell was that?" It felt like we'd hit something big. Workers lost their footing and fell over, and a pipe burst somewhere, releasing a fresh burst of steam.

"What the hell was-?" A wave of water crashed into the room, and an alarm rang out. "The water doors are closing!" One of the workers screamed. Sure enough, a large metal door was beginning to descend. We had to get to the other side otherwise we'd be trapped and drown. Unfortunately for me, this was made tricky because the fabric of my dress had soaked up quite a lot of water, and it was getting difficult to move.

_Screw this,_ I sliced through the skirt until it reached just above my knees, and then slogged through the water at a much faster pace. However, I'd forgotten that I wasn't the only one wearing a dress. "Ciel!" Elizabeth. She moved at an excruciatingly slow pace, the water had doused her curls and plastered her hair to her face. "_Ciel!_"

"Lizzy!" The doors were more than halfway shut. Ciel turned to go back for her, only to be stopped by one of the sailors. "_Lizzy!_"

Somehow, he broke free. And somehow, he managed to slide under the door before I could stop him. And just in the nick of time, had he hesitated a second, he would have been crushed. I screamed and pounded the steel door, as if that would help. "_Ciel! Ciel, are you okay?! Ciel!_"

For a moment, I couldn't breathe. Was this going to be like before, with Ciel instead of Sebastian? I didn't care about Lizzy – well I didn't care about her that _much – _but I could not lose Ciel! I could not lose a member of my family! I nearly sagged with relief when I heard his voice through the rushing of the water. "I'm fine! You both go on ahead!"

"We can't leave you behind! _Says Emily,_" Snake yelled back.

There was silence for a moment, and then he spoke again. "It's an order! Don't worry, we'll escape via the duct! Just go! Your _friends_ can't be in water for too long, right?" For the first time, I consciously registered how cold the water was. _I swear, if Ciel survives and gets a cold after this, I will stab someone._

Snake sent one of his snakes into the ventilation duct to guide Ciel and Elizabeth through, and then I grabbed his wrist. "Come on!" _And also,_ I sent up a prayer – which was probably not going to get answered considering what I was in love with. _Please don't let Elizabeth do anything that will jeopardise their survival._

"Wait," Snake blinked and looked around. "Where's Ryan? _Says Oscar._"

I froze, and then spun around in time to see the hem of a white lab coat disappearing into an elevator. "That _bastard!_" I seethed. "Quick, we have to get upstairs!"

The hallways were crawling with those monsters, but I was angry, and in enough pain to hack through every single one of them. I didn't have that useless long skirt weighing me down, and I rushed forward into the fray. It wasn't until the first hallway was empty that I noticed something.

Some of the corpses were children. Some were teens. Some were young adults, their features married only by the stitches and early signs of death. A flicker of pity flared in my chest, and then I stamped it out. What use was pity anyway? "Snake," I forced my knife through a throat, and then yanked it out the other side. "Can you find their scent?"

"Yes. _Says Webster_.This way! _Says Dan,_" he grabbed my wrist like I had done before, and pulled me through the rooms and corridors, until we burst into one.

"Ciel!" He was sitting on the ground, his leg bent oddly, being tended to by Sebastian and a tearful Elizabeth. I launched myself at him, carefully though because that ankle looked swollen, and embraced him as tightly as I could without hurting him. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!"

"_Gack!_ Get off me!" He shoved me away impatiently, but I couldn't stop smiling because I was so relieved. "I'm okay. Elizabeth...Elizabeth protected me." The last bit was a mumble, and then I noticed all the bodies around, and the bloodied fencing swords in her hands. _She...she did this?_

Something had changed in her eyes. There was steel in them now, and I stared at the blonde girl silently. Well, it seemed I had been wrong about her. I bowed my head. "I'm sorry," I apologised. "I'm sorry for the things I said earlier. You are cute. You are strong. You should take pride in your beauty and strength," I raised my head and shrugged. "I should probably have worded myself better earlier. So once again, my apologies, Lady Elizabeth."

Elizabeth made no reaction for a while, other than to gape at me in surprise, and then she sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Thalia," she smiled. "I forgive you."

Well, now I had that off my chest. I turned to Sebastian, and I wasn't sure whether to hug him or not because now he was all spick-and-span and I was wearing a chopped up dress and covered in human blood and bits. "Why the fu-hell do you look so clean?" Still had to watch my language around the lady.

Once again, he smiled cheerily. "Because I'm simply one hell of a butler. What sort of butler would I be if I could not look my best at every moment?"

"I will stab you in the eye. Be careful with his ankle!" I watched nervously as he lifted Ciel into his arms, making sure his ankle wasn't jostled anymore than necessary.

The younger male winced once, and then exhaled. "Where is Ryan?" He asked us.

"I'm sorry, he managed to get away. _Says Oscar,_" Snake replied. _When I see him, I'm shoving him overboard. Which might happen anyway, since it seems like this ship is about to go down at any moment._

* * *

oOo

* * *

A huge crowd had gathered on the lower slope of the first-class deck, and the lifeboats were being lowered. People scrambled for them, shoving one another in a mad frenzy of bodies. Somehow (i.e. Sebastian) we managed to get to the front of the crowd, where we spotted the rest of Elizabeth's family corralling the panicked humans like livestock.

Elizabeth ran to her brother, embracing him tightly. Ciel limped over, using Sebastian's arm for balance. "I'm sorry. I've been completely useless." _No you haven't!_ I rolled my eyes mentally.

"I'll say," Elizabeth's brother, Edward, snapped. "Well whatever, we'll save the lecture for later. You three, hurry into the boats..."

Ciel cut him off quickly. "Edward, I have a favour to ask of you." The blonde arched an eyebrow curiously, and Ciel jerked a thumb at Snake. "Instead of me, let this guy on." The footman jerked and gaped at Ciel with wide, stunned eyes, as did Lady Elizabeth. The young earl ignored them both. "I can't get on this the boat just yet."

Edward stared at the three of us contemplatively, but mostly at Ciel, and then he nodded. "Alright, I'll take him."

Immediately, Lady Elizabeth shoved her way past her brother. "No! If Ciel stays, then I want to stay too-!"

I stepped forward and covered her mouth and nose with my hand. I smiled into her eyes. "Love makes you want to do stupid things, right?" I whispered quietly. "Don't worry, I know how you feel." Her eyes rolled up into her head, and I caught her around the waist. "You should take her on board before she wakes up," I told her brother coolly. "This thing only lasts thirty seconds."

While Ciel gave Edward instructions, I actively avoided meeting Sebastian's eyes. Had he used his demonic hearing? Did he know what I'd said? The eyes burning into the side of my face told me yes, he probably had. I turned my face away, and then the eyes were burning into my neck, which was actually much worse. I'd actually consciously forgotten about the mark that covered the back of my neck. Who knew it was possible to get hot and bothered from simple staring?

The blatant gazing had to stop when Ciel motioned for Sebastian to pick him up. "I'm leaving Elizabeth and Snake in your hands!" He called as we turned to go.

"You don't have to come back!" Edward called back. "I'm fine not having you as my little sister's fiancé."

_...is this some odd way of saying Ciel should come back?_ Apparently so. Ciel smirked and tilted his head stubbornly. "I'll be sure to make it back then."

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was easy to see how badly the ship had begun to tilt once we were inside. "How do we know Ryan isn't already on one of the boats anyway?" I wondered as we moved into a corridor that had not begun to show obvious signs of sinking.

"He isn't," Sebastian answered. "Grell and Ronald went after him before you and Snake arrived."

I nodded in understanding. The reapers wouldn't let him off the boat. A few feet away, one of the doors began to open, and I stopped walking as a familiar person stepped out of the room. "The Viscount of Druitt!" Ciel blurted in surprise. _Damn this person!_

The blonde was holding a glass of wine, and he frowned over at us curiously. "How do you know who I am?" He asked. "Have we met before?" Oh, right. No wig. He wouldn't know who Ciel or I were without our wigs. "Oh well," he ran his free hand through his hair and preened. "I suppose I'm so famous in society, it would be rare if you _didn't_ know me!"

_Let's shove him overboard._ "Please allow me to ask," Sebastian frowned. "Why is someone like you in such a place? This ship is sinking, and full of living corpses prowling around."

At that, the viscount smirked and lifted the hand with the glass. He gestured at something behind him, and my eyes focused on the large, bulky machine being a carried by servants. "You know, there is something I absolutely want to protect, even if it means risking my life on this ship." That was the machine Ryan had used to revive the corpses! Had the Viscount stolen it? "You know, those corpses are like puppets to me," he smiled and pretended to cover his mouth coquettishly. "Oops, I suppose I've said too much. Well then, if you'll excuse me..."

Ciel and Sebastian shared a glance, and my eyes widened. _Oh my god, please no..._ "The complete flame in our chests..." _I hate this so much._ "Shall not be extinguished by anyone. We are...THE PHEONIX!" _Kill me now. Why couldn't these people come up with a better greeting?_

"So you _are_ comrades!" The viscount smiled after coming down from his own salute. "I do remember seeing your faces before."

"That device!" Ciel jumped straight to the point. "Could it be something to stop the corpses?" At that, the viscount frowned and asked us how we'd gotten that bit of information. At that moment, he looked genuinely villainous, and unlike the dramatic pervert I'd labelled him as. "As I thought," Ciel narrowed his eyes. "Is it you then!?"

Druitt didn't respond for a moment, and then he turned his back to us and lifted the hand holding his glass. "If you want to know, just follow me," he called over his shoulder. "I'll show you all the coming of the new Aurora Society thanks to medicine, alright?"

We followed him in silence, and I leaned closer to Ciel when Sebastian whispered. "Should I try to steal it from him by force?" The butler asked.

"No," the earl replied quietly. "We don't know how to use it. Let's wait until he activates it, and then..."

Once again, quiet, familiar giggles floated over, and I noticed a familiar person assisting in carrying the machine. "Undertaker?!" How had I not noticed him earlier? Why was he constantly disappearing? "What are you doing? Why are you carrying that?" So many questions...

He giggled harder at our confusion. "While I was escaping, I was asked to help carry this thing~," he replied cheerily. "And then you did that _the phoenix _thing again...~"

"_Forget that right away!_" Ciel hissed, red in the face, and then he lowered his voice to a whisper. "By the way, would you happen to know how to activate this thing?"

The mortician stared at Ciel silently, and then he smiled a secretive smile. I could almost see his eyes narrowing in amusement. "Who knows~?" He sang. "How will this thing be of any help, I wonder..." I frowned as he let his voice trail off into quiet giggles and the occasional hum. He was behaving like a child with a secret.

When we reached the first-class passenger lounge, the viscount ordered for the device to be put down. "Are you going to activate it now?" I snapped.

"Not yet," he smiled. "The cast is still incomplete." _The cast? Who's he waiting for?_ And then someone yelled from above us.

Ryan, there he was; the cause of all this chaos, that bastard. "You bastard!" He shouted. "Why did you take the device?!"

The viscount smirked and spread his arms wide. "There you are, Ryan," he grinned. "I was waiting for you. Tonight the empire you built will collapse like Pompeii! And in its place, my new realm shall be born!"

_...what?_ Here I thought the viscount was an actual villain, and he'd just turned out to be an asshole with delusions of grandeur.

He gestured to the machine behind him with a pleased smirk. "With the power of this device, _I will create a new empire!_ The one who conquered eternity will rule over everyone else with corruption and decadence! It shall be called," He struck his signature phoenix pose. "THE AURORA EMPIRE!"

...okay, so _massive_ delusions of grandeur. "Sounds kinda complex," Ronald and Grell made their appearance, having followed Ryan. Grell had already revved up his chainsaw, and was prepared to hack the viscount to pieces (which was probably the only thing we'd ever agree on in my lifetime).

Druitt smiled and wagged the finger of his free hand. "Ah-ah-ah!" The hand holding his wine was raised over the top of the device, the angle dangerously close to spilling the liquid over the delicate circuits. "Don't you care about the device?" As the red reaper was forced to pull back, he laughed. "Ah, so this is real power! I can win against all of you with one glass of wine!"

He then laughed loudly, in what was probably supposed to be his attempt sounding evil and antagonistic. I twitched. "He's beginning to get on my nerves. Can I kill him?"

"Yes."

Sebastian grabbed my arm with his free hand. "Although I understand your feelings, please wait."

Alright, I suppose things had to be strange when the demon was the voice of reason. I huffed, and then screamed when hordes of corpses suddenly poured into the lounge. "There's too many of them!" Ronald yelled.

Ciel turned to the blonde man standing over the machine. "Viscount, please activate the device!"

"I am not a viscount anymore," he sang. "_Caeser_ will do. I will activate it if you call me that with those lovely mouths of yours," he had the audacity to wink. "My little cock robins."

I pulled out my knives. "Let me kill him."

"Okay."

"Please wait, although I understand your feelings."

Druitt twirled around with his wine, grinning like a fool, while the rest of us tried to hold back the swarm of reanimated bodies. "This place is like a coliseum of corruption! How many paladins putting their lives at stake? And I'm watching them from above, just enjoying my wine! Just like emperor Nero!"

"OHMIGOD I'M GOING TO STAB HIM THROUGH THE HEART!" I stabbed one of the monsters through the forehead, and yanked upwards, before pointing the bloodied blade at the viscount. "_Would you turn on that fucking device already?!_"

Finally he shrugged, and smiled. "Fine," he grinned. "It is time to found my new empire. But first, show me the dance of the phoenix and pledge your loyalty to your new emperor!"

I blinked once, twice, and raised one of my hands holding a knife. "I say we kill him now. Who's with me?" Only Sebastian's hand on my shoulder stopped me from walking forward and stabbing the blonde right in the face.

"Oh no~," Undertaker giggled from...somewhere. Seriously what was with that guy, why did he keep disappearing and reappearing at odd times? "The little maid is angry~. Are you sure about that? Don't you want to see how the device works~?"

...damn him and his logic. I lowered my knife and groaned internally. "The complete flame in our chest shall not be extinguished by anyone," we all chorused. Yes, even the reapers. "We are the new incarnation of...THE PHEONIX!"

I stood back a few feet and literally refused to move while everyone else copied the viscount. There was no way in hell I was about to mimic that guy. Luckily he didn't notice, and he beamed at us excitedly. "Well done, my new subjects!" He turned to the machine. "Now watch as the dead army prostrates before me!" With that, he pressed a button on the side of the machine and...

...nothing happened. Nothing. The corpses kept coming at the same speed as before. "It didn't work!?" I screamed, while Undertaker literally fell over laughing. "I can't believe this!" I went back to cutting through necks, but I was getting tired. I'd never gone against so many foes before. At least, not all at once.

"What a useless farce!" Grell revved up his death scythe and leaped for the viscount, while Ronald yelled something about how he wasn't supposed to kill people. I don't think the red reaper would have paid any attention, and I'm pretty sure Druitt would have died in the next five seconds, had something not blocked the blade coming down.

Undertaker. His giggled had subsided into soft huffs, but he was still smiling quite widely underneath his fringe. "It's been a while since I laughed so much~," he said. "To lose such an amusing man would be like losing the whole world to me."

My eyes had blown wide open in shock as I registered exactly what he was using to block Grell's death scythe. Undertaker was... "A shinigami?!"

The silver reaper, because that was what he was, flung Grell backwards with greater strength than the red reaper had expected. "How sad it would be," he reached up and smoothed his fringe back from his forehead, revealing a face I'd seen before, and piercing green eyes that I now recognised. "_Should laughter disappear._"


	47. Chaos in Death

**I own nothing, only Thalia! **

**Chaos in Death**

Before we go on, let me explain that _shocked_ did not even begin to _cover_ how I felt. Stunned. Stupefied. Astonished. Maybe even dazed. Those were more acceptable. Actually, now that I think about it, I had seen those eyes before hadn't I? The day I went to his workplace alone, he'd let me part his fringe to see his face.

"You've been hiding yourself well," Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "Since you kept your eyes hidden, I never noticed it either."

Undertaker smiled, and it wasn't the overly cheerful and mildly disturbing grin he normally wore. His acid green eyes sparked with odd humour under his fringe. The slash that went across his face only added the the mildly deranged air that surrounded him. "How nostalgic," he said. "It's been half a century since someone last called me that~. The little maid knew though," he turned that smile on me, and I took a step back when all eyes immediately went to me.

"I didn't know!" I yelled back defensively. "I mean, I saw his eyes only once! It's not like I'd be able to tell!"

"You saw his eyes?!" Grell screeched back. "And you couldn't tell?!"

"Well _excuse_ me for not being well versed in the realm of the supernatural!" I hurled back, throwing my arms up in exasperation. "I didn't know that colour was significant! Hell, lots of people have green eyes!" Besides, I'd been distracted at the time! It's not like I'd be paying attention to something as trivial and _eye colour_ when a) I'd been really close to finding my birth mother, and b) the only man whose eye colour I genuinely cared about was Sebastian's.

Dammit, I was beginning to lose focus because of him. This had to stop.

In the chaos created by this new revelation, we'd forgotten about Ryan (and also the viscount, but never mind that guy) and he made his presence known again. "Undertaker, what's the meaning of this!?" He barked, though it came out as more of a whine. "Didn't you tell me that we could control the corpses as long as we had this device?!"

Wait...what? Undertaker was...he was the cause of all this? This death and carnage...? I backed away further when the silver reaper shrugged. "I thought it was funny that you genuinely wanted to bring the dead back to life," he smiled. "You were the perfect person for my purpose."

"So...so our goal of making the entire world healthy was...?"

A sham. "That's your goal, isn't it?" Undertaker giggled with a shrug. "Besides, you couldn't perform the resurrection of human beings with the kind of medicine you possess. In my book, the moment you chose to rely on _my _skills was the moment this couldn't be called medicine anymore. For someone to use a treatment he doesn't even understand on his patients, well," the reaper laughed. "That person can't be called a doctor, can they?"

The doctor, previously frozen in stunned horror, fell to his knees with quiet, agonised groans. Undertaker chuckled and patted his head patronisingly. "There, there," he cooed. "You were a good boy who honestly believed in my story."

"So you're the one behind the Aurora Society's experiments?" Ciel snarled.

Undertaker removed his hand from Ryan's head as he turned, and placed a finger to his lips. "That's a secret~" he sang, and then he laughed. "Well, that's what I'd like to say, but you've paid me well by doing that Phoenix pose, so I'll tell you," he stabbed the point of his weapon into the ground. "Yes, it was me who created these moving corpses. Why?" He shrugged. "I suppose it was just my curiousity towards humans."

And so he explained the logic behind his experiment, although it truly didn't seem that way to me. The souls of the creatures had been edited, the End attached to fake cinematic records so that they went on and on, effectively keeping the body in a strange state of not-quite-dead-but-not-really-alive.

"All living things seek to fill up whatever they lack," Undertaker chortled. "If the body is wounded, it will close up. If someone is lonely, they will seek others..."

It hit me, what he was getting at. "And if you don't have a soul, you'll try to take one." That explained how they could find us without any functioning senses, they were following whatever signal a living soul gives out.

The reaper smiled at me. "Very good, little maid~" I felt sick in chest. "Still, it's impossible for them to make another soul their own though. I can tamper with the records, but I can't create a soul. I experimented a lot, but most of them never became anything more than flesh dolls without a self," he gestured to the bodies on the ground, and then ones in the distance. "That was why I called them _Bizarre dolls_ – not living, but not dead."

Ciel grimaced and clenched his teeth. "How perverse can you be...?"

"That you cannot understand this beauty means you are too young," Undertaker giggled, and his words were so familiar that I felt a familiar feeling of horror creeping up my spine. Had that not been what that mad doctor had said? What made this so beautiful?

Undertaker took one of the dolls in his arms, holding her like you would a lover. "This beautifully stitched white skin, as white as wax, just as when they were alive..."

_I saw only the black stitches, and the jagged lines that showed how the monster had been broken and put together. _

"Their mouths that cannot clamour noisily, or tell us lies any longer..."

_I saw only a mouth caked in blood and teeth stained red with it._

"Don't you think that they are more beautiful now than when they were alive?" He let it go with a flourish and a smile.

The doll crumpled for a moment, and then suddenly dragged itself towards me. I slashed it down with a snarl. "_You make me sick._"

The reaper actually looked faintly surprised by the poison in my tone, but he shrugged and smiled cheerily. "Ah, but you know, there are humans who want these dolls. After all," he gestured to the dead horde around us. "These dolls feel no pain or fear; they eat the living, craving their souls...wouldn't you say that they're the _perfect_ _army?_"

Wasn't that just perfect human reasoning. The incessant need to always be better than the other, even if you have to destroy everyone and everything in your way. "That eccentric bunch wanted to see how far they could be used, so we decided on experimenting by throwing the same amount of Bizarre dolls and humans on a cruise ship to see what would happen!"

I needed to hit something, kill something, cut something, spill blood..._something._ My emotions were going haywire. Anger, horror, _guilt,_ they were battling somewhere in my chest. _It hurt._ Was I shaking? "Quite deranged..." I heard Sebastian comment. "So you mean this ship was never headed for America?"

He chuckled, and I shuddered. "But because of you, more humans survived than I thought," he tapped his chin with a black fingernail. "I wonder if I should be angry..."

No one moved for a moment, and then Grell suddenly leapt at the silver reaper with the intention of killing him. He was followed by Ronald, and then Sebastian. I couldn't move. I couldn't help the feelings of rage and powerlessness, of hatred and remorse because I'd _liked _Undertaker. I'd liked him, liked his creepy laugh and his bone cookies, his silly hat, and the way he hugged me and called me _little maid_.

This was why I _hated_ caring for people. At any given moment, they could turn right around _and stab you through the back._

The fight seemed to have dissociated into a sort of three-way fight between the official reapers, Sebastian, and Undertaker. Even as confused as it seemed, I could tell that the silver reaper was clearly an excellent adversary if he was capable of taking three other supernatural creatures at once. A thought suddenly occurred to me, and a new feeling joined the chilled mass. _Sebastian..._

Undertaker suddenly laughed and shoved the other reapers backwards, and his weapon had changed. Instead of those strange wooden sticks he'd been brandishing, he now held a large and impressive-looking death scythe. Long, black, and curved to a sharp point, it resembled the scythe drawn and accepted by society's view of the Grim Reaper.

"Thalia!" Ciel, I turned to him and stared as though I'd never seen him before. Who knows, maybe I hadn't. "We should go. Sebastian will take care of this."

...right. I nodded and turned to move Ciel somewhere safer, when I heard the reaper chuckle far too close. "You think of some interesting stuff, don't you butler?" He said, and then he was suddenly reaching for Ciel.

I reacted without thinking, and shoved the younger boy out of the way. Undertaker's hand latched around my wrist. His eyes widened slightly, but his grin only grew. "Little maid, I didn't know you were ready to go so soon~" he cooed. I saw a flash of black and red, Sebastian, but before he could get to me, I was already falling.

Somewhere, I heard Undertaker speak faintly. "_I knew you'd come at me~..._"

Falling is...hard to describe. Eyes open, debris. Eyes shut, darkness. There were no thoughts in my head, just a jumble of words that I would probably never remember. I could have been falling for seconds, or for hours, like Alice falling down that absurd rabbit hole.

I saw Sebastian leap for me, and I felt myself smile internally. Sebastian. I'd never told him I loved him. So many chances, and I'd never taken one of them. I'd tell him when he caught me...

And then there was blood. My senses sharpened so that I caught the stunned expression in Sebastian's eyes, and the sharp blade of the axe that went right through his back and came out through his chest. I screamed.

Time seemed to slow down even more. Cinematic records poured out from the gaping wound and began to play. I saw...a strange beginning. I saw myself as a little girl, playing hopscotch on cobblestones. I saw myself as a child smiling, and then as I was now. I caught a brief glance of the shape that had apparently been growing on my neck since I was a child, black swirls with sharp points that curved over my shoulders and down my back.

I saw Ciel's beginning, from when the earl had called to Sebastian as a young child trapped in a hell, his hatred and fear the main thing keeping him alive. I saw how they had both trained each other to be what the other wanted, a butler capable of serving a nobleman, and a master capable of controlling a demon.

The film played in my mind's eye, and then it was over before I knew it. Sebastian grabbed me and landed safely with me on the ground. "Sebastian!" I sat up immediately and placed a hand on his cheek. He wasn't moving.

Undertaker hummed quietly as he came closer. "That was unexpected of you, little maid," he remarked with a smile. "Still, I knew he would be able to protect you. As expected from a Mate."

There was so much blood, it stained my hands and face and chest dark red. I hunched over, bringing my face closer to his own, and searched for some sign of life. "Sebastian, please..."

"...you didn't scream this time..." I jerked and stared as his eyes opened, revealing glowing red irises and black pupils that were now slits. He sat up, clearly pissed off, and spat out the blood that had been pooling in his mouth.

The reaper chuckled darkly. "Your record was quite interesting," he commented. "But it seems you only make the earl and maid miserable after all." My eyes widened as he lifted his scythe. "_So maybe I'll just make you disappear._"

I have no doubt he would have brought the scythe down, whether or not I'd been there, had the fates not chosen that very moment to cause the entire ship to lurch violently, and then tip. The water was making the ship tilt forwards. I grabbed for a ledge before I could plummet down, and winced as Ryan fell past me, arms outstretched and pupils blown.

"Ryan Stoker, born august 24th 1854, death by falling accident April 20th 1889," Grell said. "No special remarks. Sebas-chan, as you can see, there's really no time. I'm sorry," he leaped to follow the escaping Undertaker. "But I'll be taking him."

Ronald revved up the engine of his death scythe with a smirk. "Senpai I stronger than me, so he can take that one. I'll finish up the weakened one here."

I pulled myself up and closer to the two of them, and blinked when Ciel scoffed at Ryan's statement. "I can't have you looking down on my butler," he smirked. "Weak? Lose to you? That joke isn't even funny, right Sebastian?"

Well, he did have that terrible injury. In spite of this, Sebastian smirked back. "Yes, my lord," and then he dissolved into coughing. Of course, internal bleeding, he needed to get the fluid out of his lungs. Or, you know, whatever he had.

The reaper had the urge to roll his eyes. "Oh man, it feels like I'm picking on the weak here-!"

Sebastian had passed Ciel to me, and darted forward to punch Ronald in the face. He bounded forward with unimaginable speed, while I clung to Ciel and the ledge while searching for a more stable surface. There was a crash, but I ignored it. "Ciel, do you mind getting on my back?" He did, leaving my hands free.

This room was too large to be safe if the ship tipped entirely, but the corridor that Undertaker and Grell had gone down was much safer. At least, if the boat tipped, there wasn't far to fall.

Sebastian reappeared a few seconds later, dragging the half-dead reaper in one hand, and the death scythe in the other. "Are you both alright?" _Don't ask me that. Not when you're the one with the massive injury._ I nodded silently in response, and I felt my hand lift slightly...I forced it down again.

It was rather easy to find the silver and red reaper, we just followed the sound of violence and then threw Ronald into the room to announce our entrance. "Young 'uns these days really are so feeble," Sebastian smirked, resting his foot and arm on the death scythe. "Isn't it kind of old-fashioned to just rely on your death scythe?"

The ship lurched again, and one of the windows overhead shattered, sending a torrent of water into the room. Undertaker giggled and jumped out of the way. "Well, I suppose it's time to say goodbye~!"

No! He couldn't! I had to ask him so many things, but at the same time I never wanted to have to see him again. I wanted to forget what a horrible mistake I'd made, and how stupid I'd been. Sebastian darted towards the reaper at the same moment as Grell and, for a second, Undertaker actually looked surprised.

Sebastian kicked out, but Undertaker ducked to avoid the blow. Something metallic flashed in the air, and Ciel caught hold of it before Undertaker could snatch it back. Emotions flashed in the eyes of the reaper, but then they seemed to settle and he smiled almost fondly.

"Earl, I'll entrust that to you for a while," the mortician, now revealed to be a reaper, smiled and backed away. His posture was no longer antagonistic, instead it was almost casual. "Please take good care of it. After all," he raised his scythe and brought it down on the side of the ship. "It's my treasure."

There was a mighty crash, the deafening sound of wood and metal cracking. I grabbed on to Ciel and, somehow, I latched on to Sebastian as well as more water flooded into the room. In the midst of the chaos, I heard him laugh quietly. _Let's meet again sometime earl, little maid._


	48. Watery Grave

**Yoooooo, hello everyone! Due to several inconveniences, most of which involve school, exams, tests etc., I was unable to update for the past few weeks or month. I probably will not be able to update much until maybe June 4****th****? Yeah that sounds about right. **

**I own nothing!**

**Watery Grave**

Water, wind and sleet slashed my cheeks and the skin of my bare arms. My stomach lurched and I wrapped my arms tighter around Sebastian's neck, bracing myself as he leaped off the broken, rapidly sinking back of the ship and onto the slightly less rapidly sinking front. I could hear the screams of people who couldn't make the cross, and the distant splash of bodies hitting the water.

The front of the boat rocked dangerously, it was just a few seconds away from becoming perfectly vertical and disappearing between the waves. "Young master!" Sebastian put Ciel down, and quickly jammed a red and white lifesaver over his head and shoulders. Ciel screeched in surprise, especially when Sebastian picked him up, lifesaver and all. _Where did he get that?_ "Take a deep breath. With the situation being what it is, please forgive me!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DO-AAAAAH!"

I gaped in shock as Ciel soared away and landed somewhere in the ocean with a distant _plop_ that I probably couldn't hear and was probably imagining. "SEBASTIAN, THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" I turned to him, and yelped when he then swung me off his back and into his arms. My eyes widened even more and I raised my arms higher up his shoulders. "Sebastian, I swear to everything, if you fucking da-!"

The rest of my threat was interrupted by him heaving me in the same general direction that he had tossed Ciel. At least he had excellent aim, I hit the water a yard from Ciel. The sudden shock of the frigid water nearly caused me to lose consciousness. I could feel the chill pervading my skin and settling into my bones. _It hurts._

I kicked my legs sluggishly, a tired attempt to keep myself above water. _It's so cold...I feel sleepy..._ My mouth disappeared below the water's surface, and then I caught sight of the lifesaver. _Ciel..._ As I watched, eyes half shut with lethargy, his arms seemed to loosen slowly by degrees until he slipped below the waves.

The sleepy chill was replaced by a different kind of chill. _Ciel!_ I dived below the water, my body screaming as the icy temperature stabbed at my skin and eyes. Below the surface was dark, but I could see Ciel's body sinking by the light of the moon, and the red lights of the sinking ship and boats.

Our heads broke the surface, and I gasped for air while Ciel choked, coughed, and clung to my shoulders. Keeping myself afloat was hard enough when it was just me, but I somehow managed not to sink too much until I spotted a dark shape torpedoing towards us. Sebastian. And he had a boat. "It seems they weren't able to lower all the lifeboats in time," he explained as he heaved Ciel, and then me, and into the boat. "So I went ahead and borrowed one."

I wrapped my arms around Ciel's shoulders, feeling the shivers and gasps that wracked his small body. For once he didn't pull away. It was amazing how many times I had come so close to losing him. I didn't even notice that I was shaking as well until Sebastian threw his coat around us. I'm not sure how he managed to keep it nearly dry, but I wasn't about to complain.

We could hear the screams of those who hadn't been able to get on the lifeboats in time. There were so many of them, all clawing and shoving at each other to stay afloat. "If we let them on, they'll sink this boat too," Sebastian pointed out quietly.

Ciel gritted to his teeth to stop them from clacking together, and gripped the edges of the coat tighter. "Let's get away." Accordingly, Sebastian gripped the boat and began to swim in the direction of the other boats. A part of me worried that he would get cold, while the logical part of me informed me of how unlikely that was to be true. A sigh escaped my lips, forming icy crystals in the air. Ciel had stopped shivering as hard, but he seemed...limp, tired.

I shook him by the shoulders firmly. "Don't fall asleep!" If he slept off, his body temperature would reduce even more. He might slip into a coma, or worse.

The boat suddenly jerked, and Sebastian grunted with surprised pain. One of those monsters had latched onto his leg and bitten down with enough force to draw blood. "Ugh!" He kicked out, shattering the bones of the neck.

Ciel looked horrified. "They can move in water!?"

"Seeing as they're not exactly alive, they probably have no need to breathe," I felt sick and scared, and the feeling grew when the water around us began to bubble. Heads began to rise out from the water, hundreds of them, all turned towards us.

_Oh my god. _Ciel screamed. "Sebastian, get in the boat!" The demon vaulted himself into the boat, narrowly avoiding having his arm bitten off. The unholy sound grew louder, the deafening groans and monotonous grunts as they came closer. A few grabbed hold of the hull and tried to climb in, but Sebastian grabbed hold of one of the oars and struck them hard enough to shatter the bones in their arms and skulls.

I curled myself further around Ciel. One of the monster made a wild grab for his arm, and I slit its neck. My knives felt uncomfortable in my hands, bulky and difficult to grip between my frozen fingers, but as long as I could hold them I would. "How many are there?" I yelled.

The oar in Sebastian's hands slammed against the skull of another. "I don't know," he replied. "It seems that they will keep coming for the soul closest to them, meaning that the two of you are the only other living humans around."

The young boy studied the surging mass of monsters, and then the distant light of the other lifeboats. He gritted his teeth and scowled. "Then we can't escape," he muttered. "If we do, Lizzy and the rest will be targeted. We can't expose the survivors to danger."

I consider now how selfish and _human_ Ciel always was. Rarely was anything he ever did out of the pure goodness of his heart. His actions were always out of some form of self-interest; a way to alleviate feelings of guilt or fear. I expected nothing more from him, and nothing less.

Thin fingers latched around my wrist when I tried to stand. "What are you doing?" He snapped, traces of worry evident in his visible eye. "Don't be stupid, you're just as cold as I am."

"But-" I tried to argue, but he had already turned to Sebastian.

"You can take them, can't you?" He asked the demon, and Sebastian smirked, his teeth sharp and his eyes glowing just faintly.

"There is no need to ask a servant anything," he replied smoothly. "Please give me an order."

The hand on my wrist tightened and yanked me down to the seat of the boat. "In that case, Thalia I _order_ you to sit. As for you, Sebastian," his tone hardened. "Eradicate them!"

The boat rocked uncontrollably from side to side, sometimes just managing to not tip over. I gripped the edges tightly, quietly fearing that one of the monsters would bite them off, but unwilling to let go when Ciel was gripping me like I was the only thing keeping him from losing his balance and tumbling into the water. Which I was.

_Interesting._ Water sloshed into the bottom of the boat. Something grazed my fingers painfully. _Humans will drag each other down even in death to get what they want._ I clenched my teeth together. _**What truly insatiable creatures.**_

I'm not sure how long it took, but finally the lifeboat ceased its frenzied shudders and settled into a gentle rocking. I exhaled softly, relieved, and unpeeled my fingers from the sides of the boat. Ciel raised his head warily. "Is it over?"

_I think so. _My fingers felt numb with cold, but also rubbed raw. I flexed them gingerly, wincing at the intense prickling sensation as blood seemed to start flowing again. Sebastian stood and surveyed the carnage he had caused, and then he suddenly grunted and collapsed. "Sebastian!" I had never seen him look so...tired. So spent. He coughed, and blood pooled at the side of his mouth.

He grimaced. "A blow from a death scythe is quite tough, even for something like me."

"Stop talking," I muttered, pressing the heel of my hand against the gash to staunch the flow of blood. "Just lie still." The palms of my hands feel hot and rubbed raw, but I don't let up the pressure.

A contemplative silence fell over the three of us, lulled by the now gentle rocking of the boat. While I tended to Sebastian, Ciel considered the silver lockets Undertaker had dropped. "Undertaker..." he muttered. "What is his goal?"

_Good question._ "I cannot be sure," Sebastian replied slowly. "But I am sure, as long as you hold on to those lockets, you will meet him again. He did not seem to want to cause the two of you any harm," he frowned and winced slightly, just slightly. "But I cannot say I would like to run into him again."

"Didn't I say you should stop talking?" I snapped, pulling him back when he tried to sit up. "Lean back, or you're going to force out more blood."

Ciel stared at his butler, his expression inscrutable, but I was certain I could see a hint of awe and...something else. Something I couldn't put a name to. "I have never seen you like this before," he comments quietly.

_You've never seen him being struck by a death scythe either._ That is what I want to say, but I bite my tongue and rip a strip of fabric from my dress to use as a bandage. "I am deeply sorry for my unseemly state," Sebastian replies. He looks like he might go on, so I glare at him. He smirks/smiles, but keeps silent.

Another blanket of silence descends, but it is quickly blown away by the sound of a foghorn. "A rescue ship." We look to see, and somehow it is now dawn, and the sky is slowly turning from dark blue to pale pink. We can see the bodies of the monsters, the ones that still float, and beyond them are the other lifeboats.

A cheer rises up in the distance, and I exhale softly. "Sebastian, Thalia..." Ciel isn't looking at either of us when he speaks. "I can't have Phantomhive family servants looking like this. When we get back to the manor, take a good rest. You both did well today."

_That's as close to a compliment as we'll ever get,_ I smiled softly.

* * *

oOo

* * *

I decimated reanimated corpses. I killed several men. I survived the sinking of a ship and swum in the freezing cold ocean to rescue my drowning cousin, _and what do I have to show for any of this?_

"_Achoo!_"

That's right, a cold. An honest-to-goodness strain of the common cold. This was infuriating, not even Ciel got a cold, and the kid's frail and asthmatic! Not that I wasn't glad he didn't come down with something dangerous. In all honesty, I'm glad I was shouldering the worst of it, but it was still terrible.

I groaned nasally, and covered my entire face with the hot, moist towel Mey-Rin had placed by my bedside. "Please, just let me die," I muttered to no one, and she made a sound that was halfway between a giggle and a scandalized squeak.

"You shouldn't say that, no!" She scolded, taking the cloth and arranging it on my pale forehead. Most of my blood seemed to have concentrated itself on my cheeks and nose. My nose especially, which randomly went from being drippy and disgusting, to being completely bunged up and swollen. I had forgotten what it felt like to breathe normally again, and I had also nearly died several times during the night when my body seemed to have forgotten that my nose was actually blocked and tried to breathe through it.

Ugh, oh well. My body healed quickly, and this was just a common cold. Nothing a day of rest wouldn't fix. I rolled over, careful of my raging headache, and grabbed the cup of orange juice that had been placed on my bedside table. "Thanks Mey-Rin," I smiled. "You should probably go though. I don't want you to come down with this."

"Yes, alright!" The door of my room shut and I closed my eyes. _Ow, my nose. Ow, my head. Ow, everything. Someone just kill me._ I was kidding, of course, but you can bet that when I opened my bleary eyes and saw a dark figure standing over me I was certain that some reaper had heard my sub-vocal thoughts and had come to do just that.

Which was why I screamed/swore until a hand clapped over my mouth. "My apologies," Sebastian smirked down at me. "Did I startle you, my darling?"

_No, I enjoy screaming and swearing for no reason whatsoever. It's a hobby now._ He chuckled as though he could read my thoughts, and the hand over my mouth moved to cup my chin. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged minutely. "Sleepy. Half-dead. I can't breathe right, and I've lost the ability to taste things. What about you?" I eyed him studiously. There was no visible trace of the scar, or the wounds caused by the battle. He looked as well put-together as always, and I envied him that.

His hand trailed down to curl around my fingers. "And your hands?"

I flexed my bandaged fingers with a frown. The skin had been rubbed nearly raw, and had been flecked with wood and debris that had needed to be pulled out. I would have noticeable calluses, but no lasting scars.

My right hand had taken the brunt of the injuries, and Sebastian lifted the palm to his lips. His body leaned over mine on the bed, one knee up so that he could lean over me. One hand was used to brace himself, while the other kept hold of mine. He spoke against the bandages and skin. "You look rather adorable."

I groaned and threw my free hand over my face. "I look like shit," I countered. I was pale, sweaty, my nose was blocked, I sounded nasally and I smelled like orange juice and germs. _Oh god, I do look like shit. _In a rare moment of vanity, I wanted to shove Sebastian out of my room before he could get another look at my face. "What do you want anyway?"

"Human vanity does not suit you."

"Well that's gonna be a problem because I _am _human," I raised my arm so he could see the way I rolled my eyes, and then I winced when my head gave a particularly painful pinch. "Go away, I want to sleep. Maybe I'll feel better after that," I tried to roll over, but he quickly grabbed my hand and pinned it to the bed. "Uh...what are you doing?"

Sebastian hummed quietly, still staring at me, and then he leaned down. _Oh my god, you can't be serious._ "Sebastian, seriously, this is not a good-mmph!"

I'd expected something tender, soft. I don't know how kissing fully works, but I do know that you don't kiss someone with a cold the way he was kissing me. He licked my mouth open and slid his tongue deep inside. I tried to breathe, but whenever I tried to gasp for air he would deepen the kiss, until I was certain I would pass out from the lack of air.

Finally he pulled away, and smiled smugly. "My apologies, my sweet," he kissed me on the cheek. "It seems I got a bit...carried away."

"You have-" deep breath "-ten seconds-" deep breath "-to get out-" deepest breath "-before I kill you." Really deep breath, and he snickered softly.

"Feel better soon, my love," he kissed my forehead softly, and I let my eyes slip shut and sleep claim me.

**This was terrible. I know it, you know it. Just set me on fire someone, I'm so tired. I'll edit it when I feel less like a walking corpse.**


	49. The Making of Black and Red

**Holy ice cream and bananas, this took way longer than I wanted, and I am still not proud of it. Ugh...but I didn't want to keep you all waiting because I am a slow and lazy pancake...**

**Please enjoy it, and let me know what I did wrong and/or right! I own nothing except Thalia and maybe a few other things! I would like to thank ****SnowSongX347, ****Anime Expert of Cute, ****Aquamarine6996, ****Elicorn, ****Cocobobo10, ****Draconian Master, ****HiddenOne15 and ****RandomFandoms14 for sending in questions! If I missed you out then I'm really sorry!**

**The Making of Kuroshitsuji: Black and Red**

_Thalia squealed as she was wrangled around until she was tangled up in the blanket and unable to move. "Sebastian!" She twisted left to right, trying to hide her face, until he leaned down and covered her mouth with his own._

_Breathy sounds escaped her as she tried to pull away, but he was persistent. His tongue slid into her mouth and curled. He made a sound, a low growl of pleasure, and then he was sucking her tongue, and then her bottom lip. She couldn't do anything to stop him, even when he began sliding his hands over the front of the blanket. She could feel the muffled pressure of his hands against her chest and..._

"Cut, CUT!" Lights flash and brightened to reveal a studio and cameras set up at every corner. Men and women bustle about, tweaking and arranging the settings of various screens and lights. The director, a tall, blond haired male with green eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales. "Mr Michaelis," he stresses the syllables of the name. "I'm very sure that wasn't part of the script."

The actor sits up and smiles innocently. He runs a teasing hand over the stomach of female in his arms. "Think of it as artistic licence," he says, ignoring her disgruntled yelp and the way she squirms to get away.

The blond groans and whirls around. "That's it! Someone call the script editor, we're removing this scene! Clearly _someone_ can't be trusted to keep their hands to themselves!" He storms off, calling out instructions to the technicians, effectively giving the two a quick break before they have to start again.

Thalia wriggles a bit, and then groans. "Can you untangle me now?" She asks, her voice filled with exasperation.

"Must I?" Sebastian wraps his arms around her body and pulls her closer to him. "I think I enjoy having you completely defenceless like this..."

_**Thalia, what were your thoughts upon meeting Ciel and Sebastian for the first time? From my understanding, they were the first members of the cast that you met.**_

The actress stops glaring at Sebastian for a moment to reply. "Intense," she says with little preamble, somehow managing to free one of her arms from the fabric with a muttered curse. "Oh my god, it was intense because Ciel is not a normal child, you know? I took one look at this kid and one part of me went _holy shit, he's so cute let me hug him. _And another part went, _oh my god please let him like me please,_" she giggles and shakes her head.

_**And Sebastian?**_

Here she flushes and averts her gaze to the ground. "Uh..." she shrugs and forces herself to sound completely nonchalant. "I thought he was a good actor. A really good actor. Very charming and all that."

"She spent the whole meeting shooting glances at me," Sebastian interjects, smirking when she begins to splutter her denial. "It was rather cute, even when she tried to ignore me," he nuzzles the side of her head and she squeaks and tries to push him away.

Someone yells something, and manages to distract him long enough for Thalia to free her other arm and keep him at bay. "I did _not_ spend the whole meeting looking at you!" She pouts. "That's not what happened!"

_**Thank you for that, Mr. Michaelis**_

Wait, what? Don't put that in!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

Shooting scenes takes time and dedication from both the actors and the crew. Each episode can take days to film, and a single scene can take hours before it is considered satisfactory by both. However, some scenes can have a highly emotional impact on the actors, as Thalia admits over her interview.

_**Thalia, what was your favourite adventure with the Phantomhives so far? **_

"To be honest? I liked the Circus arc," she confesses while being prepped for the next scene. "I mean, it was an incredibly emotional part, and I do remember having to stop a few times because I started crying and shaking for real and I couldn't stop."

Ciel sighs as she scrunches up her nose when a powder-puff gets too close to her eyes. "The first few tries, she just kept blubbering. She even started tearing up for real during the final take. At least it made the whole thing look a bit more realistic."

"How else was I supposed to respond?!" She rolls her eyes. "Besides, I liked the circus girl outfit, and the whole knife thing. You know Dagger is actually a professional knife thrower? They brought him in to teach me the basics!"

_**Not the Murder Arc? Your character did seem incredibly invested during that part. **_

"She cried even harder during that scene," Ciel comments dryly before she can. Thalia sucks in her cheeks so the makeup artist can finish applying the last of the powder, and pouts at him.

"Well of course I did!" She rolls her eyes. "He was pretending to be dead! And the makeup crew did a really good job with the fake blood and everything."

Sebastian smirks from the other room where he is going over a script. "Ah yes, that part was incredibly emotional for her. While the team was experimenting we didn't tell her about it at first, so you can imagine her reaction when she came into the studio and found me in the state I was in."

_**Your character would not have behaved that way earlier in the series would she? Am I correct in assuming that she used to find Sebastian creepy?**_

"Well, yes, of course she did," the actress nods. "Him being good looking has little to do with anything, he did follow me into a darkened corner and lick my fingers," her face goes pink, but that could just be the lighting and the newly applied blush. "Besides, he likes watching me sleep. It's all sorts of weird."

_**So how long did it take for you to figure out that Father Jeremy was Sebastian?**_

"There's really no concrete time for that?" The words come out sounding like a question. "I think I always just knew? Deep down, I suspected, but I was still torn up about Sebastian's _supposed_ death," she makes air quotes with her fingers. "That I couldn't really focus on anything beyond the pain and anger.

"I guess the most accurate answer would probably be when he came to the kitchen to help us cook. It's set in Victorian England, no ordinary upper-class person would stoop down to help a bunch of servants cook."

At that moment, her phone begins to ring and she fishes it out of her bag to take the call. At the same time, the scene changes to the garage where a crimson red Ferrari has just entered. The roar of the engine dulls to a quiet purr, and then cuts off abruptly.

The doors open up, and two iconic figures step out, both dressed in shades of red and donning black sunglasses. The first is Angelina Dalles, more commonly referred to as Madame Red. She is wearing a scarlet skirt-suit with a white collar, and high black heels. Her phone is in hand, and she appears to be conversing with someone.

The other, Grell Sutcliffe, has donned a matching red coat, black trousers and red boots. Both are wearing sunglasses, but over the bottom half of his face he is wearing a white mask. "No cameras please," he mutters. "Ugh, no cameras! _I said no cameras!_" The screen dissolves into static, only thing being transmitted is the sound of a chainsaw revving up.

Upstairs Thalia is still on the phone. "Yeah? Uh huh...so you've arrived? The chainsaw? ...Well they shouldn't have tried to take pictures of him without his makeup...okay, I'll be down soon."

While Madame Red no longer features in the series, her actress is one of the people in charge of makeup. The camera pans in on her and Thalia embracing upon her entrance into the room. She pulls back to study the younger woman's face, and say something critical about the colouring used for Thalia's cheeks.

_**So we know that Thalia never got to meet her birth mother, and Madame Red was never aware that she ever had a child, let alone a daughter like she wanted. What are your thoughts and feelings about this? **_

"Well..." she hums thoughtfully. "I'm finding it hard to explain my thoughts on the matter. She'd feel shocked, angry, horrified, and sad. Everything she'd done was because she was alone, and she wouldn't have been alone and unloved if what had happened hadn't happened."

Thalia nods in agreement. "People do terrible things in the name of love, and because they're lonely," she remarked. "And then to find out that all of that could have been avoided..."

"It's a completely tragic list of events," Angelina sighs, running a hand through Thalia's hair.

"But, at the same time, Thalia wouldn't have been the person she is now if none of those things had happened. I'm not saying they were good things because, obviously they're not, but some things are necessary in the formation of a person's character," the actress worries her bottom lip between her teeth, and quickly stops when Angelina shoots her a reproachful glare.

"If Thalia had been raised by Madame Red, chances are she would have grown up to be like Elizabeth; completely happy to do nothing but act cute and helpless in the hope that she would attract a man," Thalia decides. "At least Lizzy had the mother she had, who taught her to defend herself and be strong. Thalia might not have had that."

Madame Red smiles a self-depreciating smile. "I don't want to admit it, but that's probably true. On another note young lady, how long do you plan to keep your hair like this? This colouring gets on my nerves."

_**Yes, that brings me to another question. Thalia, one of our viewers would like to know how long it took to dye your hair that colour?**_

She considers this for a moment. "Well, this colour isn't permanent per se," she hums. "It takes about four hours to do, so we get it done this a day before the shoot, which means a lot of sitting still, and then going to bed with this protective haircap so the colour doesn't rub off. I use both hair dye, and hair-colour spray. Since my hair is really dark, like my mother's, it takes almost a whole can before you can't see any more of the colour."

_**You didn't consider bleaching it?**_

The actress states that she did, in fact, consider bleaching out the red first, but then decided against it. "But the whole act of bleaching seems really permanent, and even if I dyed it back to red later on, it wouldn't be the same," she leans over and presses her face into Madame Red's shoulder with a grin. "Besides, my mother wasn't too keen on the idea..."

"Of course I wasn't. Red hair isn't common," Angelina states. "Especially red hair this defined. It's important to treasure it. Oh, that reminds me," she looks around. "I should find Grell and do his makeup, otherwise he'll be insufferable for the rest of today."

_**Oh, we have a question for Grell. One of our viewers would like to know if you got your real teeth sharpened, or are you wearing some sort of dentures?**_

The redhead looks up from where mascara is being applied to his lashes and grins, showing a flash of sharp, shark-like teeth. "Sharpened of course!"He preens, although he can't move much or he'll ruin his makeup. "They add glamour and a hint of danger~."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Of course, our interview must have a few words from Thalia's love interest, Sebastian Michaelis. The actor is well known for his attractive appearance, charming persona, and wicked sense of humour. His gentlemanly persona has earned him a large number of fans from around the world.

At the moment, he is currently discussing something regarding one of the scenes with the director, and Ciel, but he agrees to answer a few questions before they begin practicing for the next scene.

_**Mr. Michaelis, what were your thoughts on Thalia's actor, and her part in the story when you first met her? Have they changed?**_

"Well, I did not think she would be of much use at first," he confesses. "Bringing a new character onstage just seemed rather pointless," he smirks suddenly. "I will admit, I was a bit more interested when I met her, but that was for...the wrong reasons..."

"However, her character has brought her fair share of dark humour to the story," he inclines his head thoughtfully. "She's rather interesting; a good example of being torn between morality, and doing what you must to survive. Good and evil, if you must."

_**So she's sort of like a middle-man? Or woman, in this case.**_

Ciel shakes his head. "Yes and no," he says. "I think her character answers a lot of questions a lot of viewers might have. Living in Victorian England, being poor with no one to protect you but yourself, how far would you be willing to go to survive? What would you do to keep yourself and those you love safe? If someone you love does something wrong, would you still follow them? That kind of thing."

The younger male is called away to discuss some blocking with the mentioned actress. Sebastian watches the two converse from his spot. "My character is attracted to her at first solely because of her appearance, but then he discovers that she has his Mark, which makes her even more interesting. Of course, we have mentioned that simply bearing a demon's mark isn't necessarily binding.

Then, in spite of the darkness surrounding her, there's still this bit of light in her soul in. Thatlia is ridiculously caring, but also dangerous. She's loyal, and gentle, and has made it clear that she would defy any authority for those she happens to love.

"She brings a new dimension to the show," he states, the corners of his lips rising into a smile. "And I am very eager to see how it plays out."

_**One of our questions from a viewer wishes to know this: if you could make Thalia do any one thing for you what would it be? **_

The actor looks away from the two and frowns. "Any one thing?" He seems to be deep in thought, and his eyes widen slowly as he considers the endless possibilities while gazing at some unseen thing in the distance. His pupils begin to dilate, and his eyes become glazed and might as well be glowing.

_**Sebastian? Mr. Michaelis, are you alright? I don't think he can even hear us. Why did we ask this question? **_

After about twenty seconds, he blinks and smiles benignly at the interviewer. "My apologies," he says smoothly. "I was simply overwhelmed for a moment. As for your question, I do believe I would love to see in a French maid dress, with cat ears and a tail. Maybe with a collar...one with a bell...the maid costume is optional though..." his eyes glaze over again.

_**Uh...we can't really put that on TV but...oh, here's another one: would your reaction would be the same if she was forced to act like a dog for a day? This would also include dog ears and a tail.**_

He pauses, seemingly torn between being aroused because _Thalia_, and being disgusted because _dog_. "That is quite a dilemma...couldn't she be a cat instead? I'd much prefer that image."

_**So, you prefer cats over dog, much like your character. Has your character not considered transforming Thalia into a demon? **_

He leans back against the window pane. "Many times," he smirks, turning to watch the woman across the room once again. "But the time for that hasn't come yet. I can't tell you more about it though, because my contract states that I cannot reveal spoilers, and I am loathe to go against it."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Although the next episode is still in production, we were able to convince one the directors to let us catch a quick sneak peek at the unedited version.

Wait a minute_, she scowled at the article. "He's alive?!" Thalia threw her arms up in exasperation. "Oh that is just fantastic. We could have __killed__ him, gotten __rid__ of him, we could have saved London from this pervert, but __no__," she drew out the words sarcastically. "__Someone__ had to choose that very _moment_ to grow a __conscience__."_

_She and Ciel turned to glare at Sebastian. The demon paused and stared back at us with an innocent smirk. "Well, it was a rather terrible maiden voyage wasn't it?" He placed the teacup down. "However, it seems life is returning back to normal."_

"_Normal, huh?" Ciel took a sip of his tea. "Now that you mention it, exactly what about __that__ is normal to you?"_

_He was, of course, referring to the white rabbit ears Sebastian had donned. "How did I not notice that?"_ _I wondered to myself, before remembering that I had been distracted by the pastries and meat. Speaking of which, those were going to be snacks for Pluto. No sense wasting perfectly good food. "Why are you wearing those?"_

"_Since today is Easter, we were all ordered by Lady Elizabeth to wear these," he shrugged helplessly._

Easter? _I blinked at him, quietly contemplating the irony of his words, and also wondering if he was going to burst into flames or something similar. Nothing of the sort happened, thank goodness. "Indeed she's been noisy all morning," Ciel said thoughtfully._

"_If you are finished with breakfast, I was instructed to take you to the second floor," Sebastian bowed. "Shall we go?"_

_The noise that had pervaded the entire manor earlier had suddenly disappeared, and I noticed a distinct lack of servants. Sebastian directed us to one of the parlour rooms on the second floor, and pushed open the door..._

The camera is still rolling when a face appears in front of it. "And that's all you're allowed to see for now!" It belongs to one Elizabeth Midford, who grins and blocks the camera's screen. "Hi everyone! I'm Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford, but you can call me Lizzy! If you follow me, I'll take you on a behind the scenes tour of the set!"

The first stop on the tour is the break room. "Here we have an array of snacks for the hungry actors to snack on during breaks," she explains, and then she giggles when she notices Ciel. "It looks like we caught Ciel having a biscuit!" The camera zooms in on the boy's face when he finally notices their arrival and groans. "Aw, how cute~!"

The building is large, and there are a lot of rooms, so it would be impossible to do a complete tour. However, the lady seems determined to show the important areas.

As she directs the camera, she suddenly pauses and sniffs the air. "Do you smell that? Oh, it seems we're in for a real treat today!" Elizabeth gestures for him to follow her into a wide open room. "Soma and Agni have brought their homemade curry to share with the cast!"

The two actors playing Prince Soma and Agni are ladling out plates of rice and curry to the line of hungry actors. "Agni poured his heart and soul into making this curry," Soma smiles, dishing out more rice. "Can you taste the love, Lizzy?"

"Oh yes," she giggles, and then she notices something. "Thalia, how many plates have you had?"

The actress blinks and looks down at the bowl in her hands. "Well, considering that I can still move, clearly not enough. But no, this one's for Sebastian. I don't think he's eaten anything in a while..."

"Aw, that's so cute~!"

"Don't you have a tour to get back to or something?"

Next there are the gardens, where the actor playing Undertaker is eating orange marmite out of the jar with a spoon while Elizabeth looks on with a mixture of disgust and amusement. "I eat a jar every day. Sometimes even two, I simply can't help myself~."

"Last week it was vegetable juice, right?" She grimaces, and then directs the camera to another spot where Lau appears to be doing...something...we're not quite sure what. Upon asking, it seems he's performing a pantomime of sorts. "Brilliant," she remarks dryly, and then jumps when her phone begins to buzz. "Oh, do excuse me! Hello?...Yes, we're still on for that...you're sure he doesn't know anything? ...okay, I'll be there in a moment!" She taps the screen and beams at the cameraman. "Let's go!"

The image changes to Sebastian being led down the hallway by Thalia. She has her hands over his eyes which, given their difference in height, is a bit awkward for her, but she's giggling hard and even Sebastian looks amused so clearly this doesn't matter much. "Where are you taking me, Thalia?"

"Patience, we're almost there!" She leans against his back to urge him forward. "And no peeking!" She leads him to the door of a room, and then removes her hands while still instructing him to keep his eyes shut while she opens the door. "Okay...open!"

He does, and is immediately assaulted by a cloud of confetti and ribbons. "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEBASTIAN!"

The room isn't decorated, but a large chocolate cake is wheeled in decorated with chocolate roses, strawberries and candles. "The whole lot would have mutinied if I didn't let them have a celebration," the director shrugs. "Happy birthday, Sebastian."

"Yeah, happy birthday," Thalia leans up and kisses him on the cheek to the cheers of everyone else in the room.

"Well I..." The actor looks stunned for a moment, and then he smiles. "Thank you very much." The cake is cut, and Thalia takes charge in distributing it until Sebastian grabs her and insists on feeding her a slice.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Later, we resume the tour outside. "Mmm, that cake was delicious!" Elizabeth chirps. "Well, let's go on! Why don't we show off the lovely ladies of Black Butler?"

The first lady is the gorgeous Ran Mao, Lau's so-called little sister. She's quiet, but not exactly what you would call restrained or bashful. At that moment, she appears to be trying to divest Mey-Rin of her clothes so she can force her into something else, and the events that occur next need to be censored for viewing purposes.

"Mey-Rin is usually so shy and reserved, but look at her now!" The actress is dressed in a lovely pink sundress, underneath which wears a matching pink bikini with a frilly skirt. She smiles at the camera and waves until someone splashes her with water. "Oh my, it seems Thalia found the water hose!"

The white-haired actress is dressed in a white tank top and short black shorts, underneath which she is wearing a strapless black bikini. She squeals and drops the hose when Mey-Rin begins to run after her, and quickly runs away while laughing loudly. "Ooh, seems like things are getting fun! Shall we follow her?"

They find Thalia, but she's not alone. In a shocking turn of events, she and Sebastian are found together. He has one of her arms pinned above her head in a grip that seems as possessive as it is gentle, and his other hand is stroking the skin of her waist as he leans closer. There's no doubt they would have started kissing, had Thalia not noticed the appearance of the camera and Lizzy. "OH MY GOD! LIZZY!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

The couple agrees to another quick round of questions, after Lizzy apologises over and over again for interrupting them during their liaison.

_**I suppose this does answer a lot of questions. Many of our viewers were wondering what your honest thoughts and feelings about Sebastian were. **_

The actress coughs nervously, her fingers twisting together in the fabric of her shirt as she studiously avoids the eyes of both Sebastian – who is making no move to hide his obvious gaze – and the interviewer. "Um..." she tenses for a moment, and then hisses out a breath. "I guess you could say I...love him? I mean, isn't it kind of obvious by now?"

_**Why do you love Sebastian?**_

"...I don't want to answer this," she buries her face in Sebastian's chest, and then pulls away. "I mean, there really is no proper answer for this. Love is a really weird thing. He's charming, and he makes me laugh, he likes cats, is really protective, etcetera...I don't know, it's probably a combination of all these things and more..."

"She always acts so shy about this," the arm around her waist tightens a bit. "Our relationship isn't obvious, but we do care for each other, don't we darling?"

She turns and scowls up at him, even though her face is as red as the tips of her hair. "I am not being shy! Don't put words in my mouth!"

"I can put many other things in your mouth, my love, not just that..."

_**...um...alright...does your relationship affect your performances on set? And when is your character finally going to confess?**_

Thalia is still coughing and spluttering from that blatant innuendo, and quickly looks away from Sebastian. Her face is bright red, not that that's any surprise. "Um...I am not at liberty to reveal that. At any rate, that really depends on the writers."

"We both do our best to be professional when in front of the camera, but sometimes it is difficult," Sebastian slips his hand under the fabric of her shirt to caress the skin. "She can be quite distracting sometimes..." Thalia begins to protest and he smirks. "Unintentional or not, my darling, you are rather difficult to ignore."

_**Wow, so the two of you are together? Are there any other couples or rivals on set? **_

Thalia laughs. "Ciel and Lizzy have a bit of a crush on each other, Lizzy more than Ciel though..." she thinks for a moment. "I don't really get along with the stunt directors, Ash and Angela much, but I try not to let it affect my work. I don't know much about everyone else, but I know Sebastian doesn't like Pluto."

Pluto, or the actor that portrays Pluto in his human form. CGI is used to make him appear as a hound, but when he's not on set, he works with Drossel – the actor who played the part of the puppet during the Shard of Hope arc – creating music for the show. "Of course he doesn't like me," Pluto grins. "Thalia and I shoot a lot of scenes where I'm not exactly respectable, right? And she's a cutie."

"You're going to get in trouble with Sebastian if you keep saying lines like that," Drossel comments dryly.

* * *

oOo

* * *

_**We only have time for a few more questions before we wrap up this interview. The first one is for Ciel: what are your true thoughts and feelings on the idea of Thalia being your cousin?**_

"Well, I clearly do not dislike her," the boy shrugs noncommittally. "I suppose do care about her wellbeing. She is amusing to have around, and her loyalty and protectiveness can only be appreciated...she's an interesting character to have in the show."

Thalia coos and hugs him tightly while he yells at her to compose herself.

_**And what do you think about your loved ones trying to bring the 'old' Ciel back?**_

He pushes Thalia away and huffs. "It's an annoying and pointless endeavour," he replies crisply. "The 'old' Ciel is gone, and the only way they could ever hope to bring him back would be by erasing his history, and that's impossible. What they want can't ever happen, so they're just wishing pointlessly for something that can never be."

_**Ciel, why are you so cute?**_

The actor promptly flushes pink and stammers something before looking away from the camera with a grunt while Thalia and Lizzy laugh.

_**Thalia, when are the babies coming?**_

The actress promptly chokes on her laughter and trips, and the interview has to be stopped while Sebastian and Madame Red tend to her.

* * *

_**Well, there you have it viewers/readers! We hope you enjoyed this quick look into the inner working of this show, and we hope you continue to enjoy it! **_


	50. Hunting Game

**Eyyy, new chapter! After this I'm going to go back to the anime. I'M GONNA DO IT! Although I am considering (**_**considering**_**) including the Greenwitch Arc because damn that looks like fun! But that's still just a thought.**

**I own nothing.**

**Hunting Games**

My recovery was swift. Over the next week I began to feel better, and had also ingested more than three times own body weight in orange juice and soup.

On the morning of the seventh day however, I finally felt well enough to get up without feeling like I was going to throw up my organs. I rolled out of bed feeling less heavy-headed and dizzy, even though I still couldn't breathe through my nose entirely, but at least I wasn't sniffling and sneezing as much.

There was howling coming from outside my window, and I walked over to push the glass open. Pluto whined below me, and then got up on his hind legs to nose around my window frame. "Good morning Pluto," I cooed, kissing his large, wet black nose. "Wow I missed you." The dog panted, and I grimaced. His breath smelled like a corpse had died between his teeth, and I'd had more than enough of corpses. "Lemme see if I can get you a snack or something, okay?" I touched his nose to mine briefly, and then forced the window shut.

The manor seemed rather noisy that morning, but that could be attributed to Lady Elizabeth's visit. I'd found new respect for the girl, now based on talent rather than how cute she was. After all, there's nothing wrong with being heart-wrenchingly adorable, and also able to incapacitate another human being in less than five seconds.

I found Ciel and Sebastian in the dining room. The younger boy was immersed in a newspaper article, while Sebastian was preparing a cup of tea. There was a tray of pastries on the table, along with a platter of finely sliced ham. My mouth watered (consuming only orange juice and chicken soup for a week straight is terrible, no matter how good it tastes) but I schooled my features.

Sebastian was the first to spot me, naturally. "Good morning Thalia," he smiled over the teacup. "I trust you are feeling better?"

"Uh huh," I hummed blearily. "I no longer feel like sh-...like dirt." Right, language. Ciel arched an eyebrow and gave me a brief onceover, as though to determine my physical state. After apparently deciding that I looked healthy enough, he promptly went back to his newspaper. I leaned over the top of his chair to read.

_Campania sinking, blah blah blah...over 1000 casualties...monsters appearing on deck...boat now gone so there's nothing left, blah blah bl-!_

_Wait a minute_, I scowled at the article in disbelief. "He's _alive?!_" I threw my arms up in exasperation. "Oh that is just _fantastic_. We could have _killed_ him, gotten _rid_ of him, we could have saved London from this _pervert_,but _no_," I drew out the vowel sarcastically. "_Someone _had to choose that very moment to grow a _conscience._"

Ciel and I turned to glare at Sebastian. The demon paused and stared back at us with an innocent smirk. "Well, it was a rather terrible maiden voyage wasn't it?" He placed the teacup down. "However, it seems life is returning back to normal."

"Normal, huh?" Ciel took a sip of his tea. "Now that you mention it, exactly _what _about _that_ is normal to you?"

He was, of course, referring to the white rabbit ears Sebastian had donned. "How did I not notice that?" I wondered to myself, before remembering that I had been distracted by the pastries and meat. Speaking of which, those were going to be snacks for Pluto. No sense wasting perfectly good food! "Why are you wearing those?"

If they could, I'm sure the ears would have twitched. "Since today is Easter, we were all ordered by lady Elizabeth to wear these," Sebastian lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

_Easter?_ I blinked at him, quietly contemplating the irony of his words, and also wondering if he was going to burst into flames or something similar. Nothing of the sort happened, thank goodness. "Indeed she's been noisy all morning," Ciel said thoughtfully, lifting his chin slightly so he could glance at the ceiling.

"If you are finished with breakfast, I was instructed to take you to the second floor," Sebastian bowed. "Shall we go?"

As we made our way up the stairs, the noise that had pervaded the entire manor earlier had suddenly disappeared. Not only that, but I detected a distinct lack of servants. Presumably they were in on whatever Lady Elizabeth was planning. Sebastian directed us to one of the parlour rooms on the second floor, and pushed open the door.

Ah, there it was. This was where everyone was. And by everyone, I mean _everyone. _From Lady Elizabeth's brother (who was scowling, as always), to Ms. Nina, who had Mey-Rin in a tight hug and was trying to kiss/fondle her. All of them were wearing white bunny ears.

"You're late, Ciel!" Lady Elizabeth cried, attacking Ciel with a hug while he yelped and stammered out questions. "I thought we could all celebrate Easter together!"

Prince Soma and Agni nodded. "We have a different faith, but we can celebrate this with you!" Soma beamed cheerfully, his hands resting on his hips. "So, what is this _Easter _about?"

As Sebastian explained, I turned away from the completely ironic (and sacrilegious) image behind me, and went to go save Mey-Rin from being molested by Ms. Nina. As it turned out, I didn't need too, since at the mention of _new clothes and hats_ she promptly dropped everything (that _everything_ being us) and whirled around in a frenzy of excitement."That must be my cue! Let me unveil the new spring collection of Nina Hopkins, the tailor that makes the season!"

I'm not quite sure where she got the measurements, or how she even knew to craft these clothes (or where they even came from. Where did they come from? Was she just carrying a bag of clothes around in the hopes that she'd get to dress a bunch of people up like dolls? Actually, that sounds like it would be right) but in the next few minutes she had dressed Ciel, Prince Soma, Agni and Sir Edward up in suitably fashionable outfits in glorious shades of blue and pink and gold.

Not for the first time, I thanked my servant status for bailing me out of such situations. I still had to wear the bunny ears though, but that wasn't so bad. "Wear this too!" Lady Elizabeth placed a pair atop Ciel's head. "Since we're all here, we can start the Easter egg hunt right away! I brought father's special Easter eggs!" She dived behind one of the couches and returned with a large basket of beautifully painted eggs.

They were all decorated in lovely colours and patterns, with flowers and ribbons and all sorts adorning the smooth surfaces. In the basket, they looked picturesque and cute. Ciel stared at them silently for a moment, and then smiled awkwardly and looked away. "Ah, yes...well, I'll tell the servants to hide those..."

Her head tilted to the side thoughtfully, and then she suddenly gasped and clapped her hands together. "I just thought of something great!" Out of the bunch, she pulled out one of the eggs. "Look, Ciel, I made this one!" She held it up so we could all get a good look at it. It was the most extravagant of the bouquet. While most of the others were painted subtle hues of blue, pink and yellow – this egg was painted with red, and white, with gold borders. It was studded delicately with tiny pearl-like crystals, and tied up with red and white ribbons, and beaded string. "Let's have whoever finds it be the winner!"

Her suggestion was received favourably, especially by the foreigners, but not so much by Edward, especially when Lady Elizabeth embraced Ciel again and pronounced her hopes that he would be the first to find it.

It seemed that all would be fine, until someone suddenly whistled and called out. "Oh, doesn't this look _interesting?_"

A figure smashed in through the window, sending glass flying everywhere. My first reaction, of course, was shock, and then anger. Who the fuck does that?! And then I recognised exactly who it was. "Earl Grey?!"

Him. _Him_. The asshole who had tried to kill Sebastian, who had inadvertently put me through those nights of _hell_. The bastard I hadn't known to kill until he'd already left. Oh sure, I did feel better after realising that Sebastian wasn't dead, but now that I'd seen his smug little face, all that rage and poisonous hatred began to seep out from whatever box I'd placed them in and kicked out of sight.

Phipps came after him, and I considered whether or not my revenge extended to him as well. It probably did. Crime of association and all that. "I overheard that you have to get your fiancées Easter egg first, don't you earl?" Grey smiled, slinking closer. At Ciel's silence, he smirked and adopted a carefree pose. "Great!" He beamed. "Then I'm participating!"

"WHAT?!" Ciel yelled. I bit my tongue, working the muscle with my teeth so that I wouldn't snarl the way I wanted to.

The guard's grin only grew at the look on the younger boy's face. "There are no rules other than _whoever gets the egg wins, _right?" His smile widened even more to show a hint of teeth and tongue when Lady Elizabeth gave a hesitant nod. "This should be fun. And of course," he suddenly took my hand in his own and I fought the urge to recoil in disgust. "I wouldn't mind being on the same team as the maid~."

_But I would. _However, fun...yes, of course. Why not? "Wait a minute," Sebastian raised a hand, drawing his attention. I saw his eyes widen for a second, before returning to normal.

"Wow..." he released my hand – I stared down at the appendage thoughtfully – and came over to examine Sebastian curiously. "I'd heard the rumours, but you're really alive, huh? So what does the butler who managed to cheat death have to say?"

_I hate you. I want to stab you through the chest the way you did to him, put you through the same amount of pain you put me. I want to hurt you and make you scream the way I did when I saw Sebastian's bleeding corpse. _I kept my expression neutral while these thoughts bubbled like hot tar in my chest.

"I'd expect there will be injuries if we didn't have rules between the members," Sebastian reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an egg. "So I propose we use these."

Instead of running freely about and causing mass havoc around the manor, each team would be required to hold an egg in a ladle. If for any reason the egg broke, then the team was disqualified. That seemed simple enough to follow.

The teams were as follows: Soma and Agni, Ciel and Sebastian, Grey and Phipps, Bard and Mey-Rin, Finnian and Snake, and finally Edward and Ms. Nina. "Thalia, do you want to...?" I blinked and focused on Mey-Rin, and I shook my head with a smile.

"No, don't worry about me," I placed my hands behind my back and twisted the ribbon of my skirt between my fingers and over my palms. "I'll just make sure Pluto doesn't get excited and ruin anything." I maintained the sweet, natural upturn of my lips until Grey turned to look at me, and then I let it drop fast enough for him to see the venom in my gaze for just a second. Before he could get a second look, I had already turned to leave. "You know what? I'll go do that right now!"

Pluto was in the garden, right where he always was, lying in the shade of a tree. He perked up when I came into view, and even more when he picked up the sound of people. "Hey Pluto," I scratched behind his ears with one hand. With the other I held a bowl of leftover meat, some cooked and some not. These were enthusiastically gulped down, and I rubbed his sides.

I sat there in the shade for a few minutes, and then I snickered and patted Pluto sharply on the side. "Come on boy, time to help me with something. Up!" Pluto yawned widely, but began to rise obediently. Before he could, I hopped onto his back, gripping the thick fur for stability. "Good boy!"

I untied the ribbon from around my waist, the one I had rubbed Grey's scent on, and held it to his nose. The hellhound sniffed it obediently several times, and then he lifted his head and growled quietly, low in his throat.

Once I was certain he knew the scent, I tied the ribbon around my wrist and grinned. "Now..."

_Where was that bastard?_

I really was serious about keeping Pluto out of trouble, I didn't want to ruin the game for anyone else. All I really wanted to do was kill-_h__urt_ the Earl Grey. Badly. Maybe put him out of commission for a while, who knows. Now, some of you may be wondering _Thalia, isn't it important to forgive? After all, Sebastian is still alive, so everything is alright isn't it?_

And I would tell you to shut up, and then I would also apologise because you are clearly a lovely person and a saint, and I am none of those things whatsoever. Besides, it's more the principle of the matter.

An explosion from somewhere within the manor sent quiet tremors through the ground, and I turned my head in the direction. Pluto whined and strained in that direction, and I tugged him back. Another whine, but he turned and sniffed the air. His nose turned in the direction of the side-gardens, and he began to walk in that direction. I could hear Finny shouting, and Snake's quieter voice.

I pulled back slightly, so we were just out of sight, and watched Finny run ahead to scout out the eggs. Snake hung back, and then he gave a start and spun around. "Who's there? _Says Wilde._"

For a moment, I wondered if he had caught wind of me, but then someone else chuckled quietly and stepped out from behind another corner. "So you spotted me," he grinned. "I thought it would be more efficient if I just stole the eggs others had already found."

"I won't give you our eggs," Snake hissed, and snakes began to pour out from all corners of the garden, all rushing towards the earl. "Since you picked a fight with us, we'll just have your eggs! _Says Wilde._"

Before the reptiles could deal any damage, a peculiar tune rose up. It was high, lilting, and oddly calming. The snakes stopped moving, and Snake's head snapped up in shock. "Th-That flute-! _Says Oscar._"

Phipps, of course. He stood atop a low hedge, an oddly carved instrument between his lips. He removed it long enough to jump down and speak. "A first-rate butler should be able to play manipulating music." Snake began to stagger, one hand over his ears as he tried to block of the music, until he finally collapsed, shattering the egg.

It was at that time that I urged Pluto onto the scene, with as much of the element of surprise on my side as possible. This just meant that I tossed a dog treat right by Grey's feet, and let Pluto bound forward, barking happily and blowing excited flames from his nostrils.

They both screamed, one more than the other, and jumped back in shock (they both managed to keep their egg from breaking, but that wasn't important). "Oh, I'm _so sorry,_" I apologised from my perch while Pluto nosed around for the treat. "Pluto is a _very _rare breed, and we're still trying to figure out how to train him," I cocked my head to the side and stared down at both men with blank eyes. "By any chance were you...hurt?"

"N-No," Grey recovered less quickly than his counterpart. "What k-kind of breed is he?"

I shrugged. "Who knows. I'm just the maid. You should ask the butler, he knows far more about these things. It's a good thing he's not dead, right?"

They both nodded, and beat a hasty retreat. A moment later, Finny returned. "I found lots of eggs!" He cheered. "Although one of them blew up at me and – Thalia?" I waved. "Wh-What happened to Snake?"

"The Queen's Guards attacked while you were gone," I replied. "Can I have your eggs?" I'm not sure why, but I just wanted them. Since they were both out, he consented and handed me the eggs he had found. "Thank you. Well, I'll be going now!"

I left Pluto in the garden after feeding him some more treats for a job well done, and made my way into the manor. There was so much more I could do.

* * *

oOo

* * *

**No One's POV**

Earl Grey was nearly at his limit. He had only come to this godforsaken manor to check if the rumours were true. Had that butler really come back to life?

Apparently, they were. Unless they had switched him out with a doppelgänger, then the man he had run a sword through three weeks ago was still up and running. That was one problem.

The other was that maid. Pretty thing, average height, lean but curved. What was her name again? Ah yes, Thalia. She had been following him and Phipps around all day, he was certain of it. And every time she appeared, something bad happened, only for her to apologise with a smile and a completely dead look in those dark eyes.

The dog, whatever the hell it was, had been a surprise in itself. She had then appeared as they were making their way down some stairs, only for something thin, cold and hissing to fall down back of his neck. _I'm sorry! _She'd apologised from a higher flight of stairs. _I was trying to gather them up and one must have gotten out!_

They had walked into a room, and a dresser had almost crushed his foot. _Oh dear, _she'd wrung her hands from the other side. _I was trying to clean underneath it! I must be extremely clumsy today!_

The most terrifying had come in the form of a knife embedding itself into the wall next to a door he had just pushed open, only a few inches from his neck? _Oh my goodness, _she'd pouted, the other knife dangling loosely from her fingers. _I was trying to sharpen my knives! I'm so sorry!_

All these apologies ending with the same _by any chance, are you hurt?_ As if she cared, but when she asked her eyes crinkled at the corners and her tone gained an amused lilt. She was enjoying this.

It was to be expected, this revenge. Well, actually he _hadn't _expected it, although he should have. It had been her screams that had brought everyone running to the scene of the butler's death that morning, but clearly she was an experienced liar because he'd never gotten a glimpse of the extent of her fury until that day.

She wanted him dead.

Or, at the very least, severely injured.

He kept these thoughts to himself. Would he still have carried out the deed if he'd known that she'd been in love with the butler? Yes, most likely. He had no love in his heart for the Phantomhives, and her emotions mattered naught. However, he might have rethought his actions had he realised that her revenge with simply take the form of terrifying near-death experiences that made him wary of his next step and had him jumping if he caught sight of anything red.

Thalia yanked the knife from the door with a self-satisfied smirk and stared at the reflective surface. "Thalia?" She jerked and spun around to see the butler staring at her. "What are you doing here? I thought you said wanted to watch Pluto."

"Pluto is asleep," she replied easily, sheathing the knife. "I just came inside to watch the proceedings. Maybe get some things done."

He hummed disbelievingly, and stepped closer to her. Her body thrummed restlessly, and her fingers fiddled relentlessly with the ribbon she had tied around her wrist. Yet, she held his gaze resolutely and even smiled. His Mate was an experienced liar, but she could not lie to him. Sebastian arched an eyebrow and his lips twitched upwards slightly. "Thalia, are you trying to kill the Earl Grey?"

"What, me?" She wasn't even trying. Her eyed went comically wide, and she waved a hand in a dismissive fashion. "_No_, of course not! Kill is _such _a _strong_ word anyway. These were accidents! Completely," she tacked on. "Accidents," she repeated, keeping her face perfectly straight even as he tried not to snicker.

He nodded slowly, still grinning. "Of course. And how many times might these _accidents_ occur?"

"How about you don't worry about that and go back to our young master?" She spun around to leave. "I saw Soma and Agni lurking around. You might want to watch out."

* * *

oOo

* * *

I made my way to the front garden where Lady Elizabeth and the other disqualified members were waiting, along with a plethora of sweet and savoury snacks, tea, and cakes. "Ah, Thalia!" Agni motioned for me to come over. "It's a pity you didn't participate! You know Ciel tricked me? He pretended to have a fit when I was about to break his egg!"

"I expect that from my young master," I smiled, while making a mental note to be wary if I should ever find myself competing against the young earl. Clearly he was a ruthless adversary, but I would assume nothing else from him.

"Ciel!" I turned and watched Lady Elizabeth attack Ciel with a hug, and then she beamed when he held out the egg. "You did it! You got it first after all!" I turned my gaze in the direction of the Double Charles, and bit my bottom lip to keep from giggling. Sitting on the top of Phipps's head was a tiny yellow chick.

"I'm flattered," a voice murmured as someone came to stand behind me. Sebastian. "You went through all that trouble for me, didn't you my dear?"

I huffed. "Don't be silly," I replied just as quietly, catching the wary glance Grey threw at Sebastian and me. "He threatened the Phantomhive family, I couldn't let him get away with something like that."


	51. Black Cathedral

**Finally, back to the anime! I've been meaning to get back, since a bit of the plot still revolves around the whole Ash/Angela thing. I'm planning something awesome for Thalia. A lot of people want me to do the Green Witch Arc, and I plan to! Until then, please enjoy this chapter!**

**I own nothing!**

**Black Cathedral**

_Thalia eyed the dank London streets from her spot. The only part of her that moved, other than her eyes, were her hands. The fingers of her right constantly tapped out a rhythm against her knee, and she was certain that the spot would soon bruise if she didn't stop soon._

_She ran a hand over her face, smearing the grime that had already been there, and adding a new layer of dirt and sweat. She counted out the money she'd gathered that day. Two pounds, by the looks of it, and she couldn't help smiling a bit. Today had been a good day. Some bleeding heart of an aristocrat had wandered by and tossed her two shillings earlier._

_The coins jingled together softly - but all too loudly in the hollow silence – as she poured them into her pouch, to the jealous, greedy stares of the other street occupants. They were ignored in favour of her thoughts. _

I can't keep doing this forever.

_This couldn't go on forever, she knew that. She could only beg and steal for so long. Sooner or later the Yard would recognise her face. Although she was fifteen, lack of sufficient food and care had stunted her growth so that she looked younger than her actual age. _

_A quiet groan slipped from her lips as she stretched her stiff muscles and got to her feet, and went to scrounge for something to eat. She __**could**__ go without lunch, but she'd been skipping meals for the past week. If she didn't eat something soon, she'd collapse, and then what?_

_Those thoughts whirled through her mind as she picked her way through the cobblestones, and she failed to notice the pair of eyes that followed her movements. A dull pain flared in her thigh, and Thalia paused to rub it angrily. _

It'll fade,_ she thought to herself firmly. _It'll fade, and then I won't have to see it._ With that, she took another step forward, and then gasped when a large, meaty hand latched around her wrist. The voice was gruff and throaty, and not at all kind. "Give me what's in the pouch, and maybe I won't hurt you." _

"_N-No," she yanked at her arm, trying to pull away, and gasping in pain when his grip tightened. Her bones ground together, and she choked on the flare of pain. "Please, let go of me!" Normally she'd fight, kick and scream, but she was hungry...so hungry and so tired..._

_She jerked when she felt his other hand run frantically over her thin body, and her eyes snapped open. "If you don't cooperate, I'll show you what I do to greedy whores like you," he snarled._

No. _No. __**No!**__She screamed, and his hand clapped over her mouth._ Please, _please, __**someone help me!**_

_Her neck burned, and everything seemed to be going dark. Tunnel vision? The hands left her, and she fell to her knees, struggling to breathe. She couldn't see, but she could hear the screams behind her. They grew louder when she turned in their direction. "Your eyes! Demon! Demon!" Why was he screaming that? Why was it so dark? The heat on her neck spread, she could feel it gliding up her cheeks and down her back._

_Thalia would never be sure how long she sat in that alley, only that when she came too, she was alone with the torn apart body of a man lying a few feet away, his eyes permanently fixed in an expression of horror. There was blood splattered all over the ground, on the walls, and on her hands._

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian's feather glowed faintly around my neck, dangling lightly from the chain around my neck. Beside it was my mother's necklace, weighing down the scuffed silver chain. _Two things from two of my favourite people._ Now if I got something from Ciel, then I would have a complete set.

_My love_, I smoothed my hair, and then my dress. I had taken to calling him that in my head, although at some point I was probably going to slip up and end up calling him that in real life. Honestly, I wasn't sure why I was so anxious about telling him. He clearly wasn't afraid to let me know how he felt.

The time just didn't feel right, I decided. Actually, the right time might have been after all those times he nearly died, or I nearly died. Still, at some point, I was going to tell him. I had to, otherwise something would happen and I'd never be able to.

I nodded firmly at my reflection, and then tucked my chain underneath my dress so it was out of sight. I walked out of my room and towards the kitchen. I'm not sure what it was, but something about the atmosphere of the mansion felt odd. Odd, like there was something or someone around that wasn't supposed to be present, and I did not like it.

A quiet mewl alerted me to Minthe's presence, and I bent to scoop her up onto my shoulder. "Good morning, Minthe," I scratched her behind the ears and listened to her quiet purrs. "Can you feel it too?" I asked. She mewed and batted at one of my ribbons, which I decided to take as an affirmation.

On my way, I came across Sebastian and Ciel. Seeing as Ciel was allergic to cats, I put her down and gave her a little pat on the back to send her on her way. "Good morning young master, Sebastian."

A grunt, from Ciel, but Sebastian turned to me. "Good morning, Thalia," he smiled at me, and I promptly looked away because I could feel myself blushing and _what the hell, all he did was smile!_ "Young master, this morning you are scheduled to have a dancing lesson with Mrs. Bright," he focused on Ciel, listing out the younger male's agenda for the day. "This afternoon, you have an appointment with Lord Winsler who runs a trading business." Ciel hummed distractedly, and Sebastian paused. "Young master, are you listening?"

Ciel scowled and kept storming down the corridor. "Didn't I tell you that I'd had enough of dancing?" He snapped. "It doesn't suit me."

"Really?" I wondered. "But dancing is fun. I mean..." I trailed off and flushed, remembering that Christmas Sebastian had spun me around. It had been a while ago, and we hadn't danced since. I suddenly really wanted to, and my gaze unconsciously went to Sebastian. He was staring at me now with a small, knowing smirk and I coughed and looked away immediately. "Yeah, dancing. Wow..."

Ciel was giving me a strange look now, but he wasn't about to ask. Sebastian chuckled and steered the conversation back to its original point. "You are too modest, young master. Your steps have the power to satisfy spectator's hearts."

"By enabling them to have a good laugh?" Ciel muttered over his shoulder. "Is that what you mean?"

"Not at all," Sebastian lifted his arms in an innocent shrug, even though he looked like he was about to laugh. Before he could, however, we heard the sound of someone laughing in one of the rooms, along with Tanaka. The first voice, however, was one that I did not know.

_Who's tha-? Oh fuck. _"Look Tanaka-san," Ash was sitting on a chair in the room, his legs curled up under himself much like Tanaka. "I've got three stems floating upright! A most auspicious sign that today will be an excellent day."

I twitched and inched behind Sebastian and eyed the man warily. Some part of me almost preferred Gray's presence to his own. At least Gray didn't give me this feeling of dread, just a whole lot of anger. Besides, I think I'd scared him off for the time being.

Ciel stared at the man in shock, and then he frowned. "You are one of Her Majesty's butlers," he stated. "What are you doing here?"

"Master Ciel," Ash rose gracefully, uncurling his legs out from underneath his thighs, and bowed. "I am sorry that something so unsightly occurred in your presence."

Something about Ash made me _beyond_ wary of him, and it wasn't simply because he looked like a male version of Angela, although that was pretty weird as well. They both had the same aura, the same manner, and it scared me. "How is it that Her Majesty's butler came to be drinking tea in my mansion?" _Good question. Why the hell are you here?_

If Sebastian had spotted any similarities, he didn't let on. And if he wasn't about to, then I definitely wasn't. "You may not be aware of this, young master, Thalia, but Mr. Ash is usually the one who delivers Her Majesty's orders."

The earl looked surprised. "Is that even a butler's job?" _Sebastian does all of that and more for you, but then the situations are different. _

Ash inclined his head with a small smile. "As a butler," he began. "It is only natural to be able to investigate applicants for an audience with Her Majesty using the Domesday Book, deliver an envelope to Lord Phantomhive shortly thereafter, and relish some tea with Tanaka-san while about this business, conducting all of this during Her Majesty's afternoon nap."

All of this was said without stopping for breath, and after speaking, he took a long sip of his tea. "It's not like the tea was necessary," I muttered quietly. I didn't like the way he kept shooting glances at me. He looked up now and our eyes met. I saw the corner of his mouth twitch upwards in a larger smile, and I shifted further behind Sebastian.

The butler said nothing about my behaviour. "So, Mr. Ash, what can we do for you this time?"

Ash took another sip of his tea, and then smiled. "Well now..." he hummed. "There is a Catholic monastery on the outskirts of Preston that was set on fire during the Reformation, and is currently in disuse. A religious society preaching a heretical doctrine has begun assembling there," he put the empty Japanese teacup down. "Rumour has it that the founder of this society possesses the Doomsday Books of all his followers."

_Domesday?_ "You mean the land register?" Ciel asked. "Where things like livestock and property appear? What good is that to him?"

"Not Domesday, _Doomsday_," Ash corrected. "The books they are worshipping are quite different from what you have in mind."

These were books that listed everything that a person had ever done in their life. Every good, or evil – pure, or awful thing that they had ever seen, heard and/or done. These records were what would be reviewed when the time came for them to be judged. In a way, they were sort of like your soul in written form.

Ciel pinched the bridge of his nose at the end of the explanation. "Yet another encounter with the occult," he sighed to himself.

"It would also seem that they are planning an uprising against the government," Ash added, sounding more like an afterthought. "The residents of Preston are frightened by this heretical menace, and Her Majesty is deeply saddened by it."

_I'm sure she is. _"So, what?" Ciel arched an eyebrow. "Does this mean that they are to be dispersed? Or, rather, e_radicated_?"

Ash smiled, and it wasn't particularly kind. "I will leave that to your judgement," he replied simply. I frowned, and then blinked when a shadow fell over us. Someone barked, and I looked up and caught sight of Pluto crouching outside the window, a large doggy smile on his face. Sebastian had forced him to start wearing clothes, because he didn't like the fact that I was playing with a naked man, even if that naked man was actually a dog.

Pluto barked again, and pounded the window with a fist. _Pluto?_ He wasn't looking at me. He was staring at Ash. _He's never seen Ash before, has he? Yet he's being so friendly._ I thought back to the dollhouse scenario last Christmas, something I had nearly forgotten. Why had he been so friendly towards that strange puppet? The only people he'd ever been owned by were Angela and I...

I'm not sure what happened next, but Ash turned to stare up at Pluto, and the dog flinched and slunk away. He turned back to face us calmly. "Who was that?"

"Just an employee," Sebastian replied politely. I scowled and tightened my grip on the lapels of Sebastian's jacket (when had I grabbed him?) as Ash hummed again, and stared at me again. His smile made me want to crawl into a shadowy corner and hide until he left. Or just punch him hard him enough for him to stop it.

Luckily, he didn't stay long, and he left soon after, taking his creepy presence with him. I held myself back from sticking my tongue out at him as he left. "I don't know why, but that guy scares me," I confessed.

"Clearly," Sebastian replied. I blinked up at him, and then realised that I was still clinging to his jacket. I released the fabric like it was hot coals and backed over to Ciel instead. "Young master, will you be taking dessert in your study?" Ciel nodded, and I was briefly torn between staying back with Sebastian and following him, before I opted to follow Ciel.

For dessert, Sebastian prepared Victorian Sponge Cake, of which I got a piece. _Cake~! _"According to Mr. Ash," Sebastian said. "The monastery is heavily guarded. That would make it difficult to infiltrate directly." I swallowed the last bit of my slice and gazed longingly at the rest. "By the way," Sebastian cut another slice and handed it to me. "He also mentioned that a considerable number of coffins have been transported to the monastery quite recently."

Ciel lowered his fork and scowled. "Coffins, huh?"

I lowered my bite of cake, and the piece in my mouth suddenly tasted like foam. Undertaker, of course. That guy. I'd liked him so much, loved going to see him, and then _that_ had happened.

_Because the people we care about can sometimes turn around and shoot us in the back. _And to think, I'd thought I had lost that mindset. I swallowed and put my plate down. "He's gone missing since our meeting," Ciel commented. "There's a chance that he won't even be at the shop."

Oh...that was true. We could just walk in and take a coffin...

We headed out immediately, since Ciel was pretty happy for any reason to cancel his dance classes. The Undertaker's shack in London was exactly as I remembered, even though I hadn't seen it since last November? Christmas? I'm not sure. The door was open just a crack, revealing the dark interior.

Sebastian pushed the door open and it creaked ominously, letting in more light. "May I come in?" Ciel asked, even as he walked in anyway. "Undertaker?"

The mortician in question was standing over a coffin and giggling in his insane manner. "Welcome," he greeted, and I tensed. Sebastian's manner changed just slightly, prepared for any sudden moves the reaper might make.

"I didn't expect you to be here, Undertaker," Ciel scowled. "At any rate, I have a favour to ask of you," Ciel said. Behind him, Sebastian shut the door. I blinked and wondered why Undertaker hadn't begun to taunt us. After our last meeting, I'd expected him to be full of snickers and jabs.

I got my answer a few seconds later when he spoke. "If that is the case," he turned, and I caught sight of green eyes behind familiar red framed glasses. _What the-!? _"Then let my humble being relish this excellent romance!" Grell ran at us, losing the wig and hat along the way (where had he _gotten_ those?). "Sebastian!"

Sebastian dodged him easily, allowing the reaper to smash into the wall behind him. _Grell, huh?_ I hadn't seen the scarlet-obsessed reaper since that time. "What are you doing here?" I arched an eyebrow. "And why are you dressed like that?"

I couldn't help frowning when he sidled up to Sebastian. "Investigating something on Will's orders," he answered dismissively. "However, I didn't find much information, and I got hungry and sleepy. And then, while I was having a nice, restorative nap in a field of flowers, I somehow ended up being carried here." There he paused, and then he continued thoughtfully. "It _could _have been a mistake not to breathe while sleeping. But I was waiting for a prince to wake me up with a nice, long, tongue kiss..."

_No._ "What was the subject of your investigation?" Ciel asked, while Sebastian casually ignored the googly eyes being made at him.

The reaper finally stopped giving him lovestruck expressions. "Certain Cinematic Records have been stolen of late," Grell revealed. "There's no need for a brat like you to know about them," he said to Ciel.

"It is a film upon which a person's life is recorded," Sebastian explained, probably to annoy Grell. "A Death God extracts it from the person doomed to die, and passes judgement on his life and death after watching it."

I nodded understandingly, and then eyed Grell as he flipped his hair. _You are not the person I want passing judgement on my life when I die. William would be much better. Even if he doesn't like me, at least he takes his job seriously._ "Let me make this clear: you humans can only see it on the brink of death."

That was probably what people meant by _seeing their life passing before their eyes_ when they were about to die_._ "They are something that can be stolen?" Sebastian questioned.

Apparently so. The records were kept in some sort of giant, Reaper library when they weren't in use. What form were they kept in? Books. The stolen Cinematic Records were probably the ones the founder of that cult was using to preach. After all, the library held the records of everyone who had ever lived, and who was still living.

_Creepy._ "A book created solely for the purpose of Doomsday," Ciel murmured thoughtfully, and then he turned to the reaper. "Grell, I need you to help me with something."

The redhead frowned and flipped his hair haughtily. "Hmph, like I'd do anything for a kid like _you-!_"

"I'll let you kiss Sebastian." He paused, and I ground my teeth behind my poker face. _You can't keep promising that! _

"Oh no," I snapped, stalking in front of Sebastian. I jabbed my finger at Grell, my eyes narrowed into flints. "You'll _help _us, because _you_ need help too. You help us get into the monastery, and _we'll_ help you find those godforsaken books. _Do we have a deal?_"

His eyes were wide in shock, and he sneered at me, but nodded sulkily. "Fine," he muttered. I felt myself relax, and I realised that Sebastian and Ciel were staring at me – Ciel with an impressed smirk, and Sebastian with a gleaming eyes.

Grell put on the Undertaker's wig again, the rest of us squeezed into the largest coffin the mortician had. _It's so fucking cramped. _"Oi, where the fuck do you think your hands are?" I hissed at Sebastian. I knew it was Sebastian, because his eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, and when he smiled I could see the outline his teeth.

"My apologies, my dear. I assumed that was your leg."

"_Like that's any better?_"

"Could the two of you pick a better time to flirt?"

"We're not flirting!"

"I suppose it has gone a bit further than simple flirting."

"_Would you stop?!_"

"Hey, no touching my Sebby!" Grell's voice filtered in through the coffin.

"Stop talking, don't talk to the coffin!"

"_Would all of you just shut up?!_"

That is more or less how the entire ride to the monastery went. By the time we arrived, I was annoyed, embarrassed, and my left foot had fallen asleep. Long story short, I was in a terrible mood. This mood was made worse by the fact that entry clearly wasn't as difficult as we'd been made to think, since the guy at the gate more or less invited us in with the largest, most practiced smile I'd ever seen outside of Ciel and Sebastian's faces.

The monastery loomed over us, dark and soot-black, with arches and pillars and windows that reminded me of eyes. Men and women in red, black and white robes moved about the grounds, their heads slightly lowered. They only looked up to flash each other large smiles, and then they moved on.

I took a step closer to Sebastian. "This place freaks me out," I muttered quietly. It had the same aura as Ash, only magnified to fit its size. We were led into the main hall of the monastery, and something caught my eye. Something at the top of the stained glass mural of an angel. _That sign._

My hip burned with phantom pain, and my fingers gripped Sebastian's sleeve reflexively. _Hold me_, I wanted to say. But I didn't, because I was stronger than that, and I wasn't about to be reduced to some crying mess. At least there weren't any freakish dolls around.

Fingers touched the back of my hand, and I blinked several times and turned to Sebastian. His expression was one of concern. I shook my head, and looked over at Ciel. The boy looked nearly catatonic, and I leaned over to him. "Ciel?"

He blinked, catching himself and coming out of whatever frozen state he had been. He waved off my concern quickly, and turned when we caught the sound of children laughing. Three little boys skipped out from a door near the back of the hall. They were dressed like choirboys, in the same red, black and white clothes as the adults.

They caught sight of us, and hopped over, looking cheerful and carefree. Seeing them made me feel uneasy. "Good evening," they chorused, all smiles. "Today was a wonderful day again, don't you think?"

One of them wore large, round glasses that seemed a tad too large for his small face. "Oh, they are so cute!" Grell commented with a smile. "I have no interest in kids though." _I should sincerely hope not._

The children stopped in front of him, with the boy wearing glasses in front. "Good evening Mr. Unclean," he beamed. "You really are dirty, through and through!" The other boys expressed similar sentiments, all with wide, concerned smiles on their faces. Grell froze, and scowled at him. "What's wrong Mr. Unclean?" One asked, and he received a punch to the head for his trouble.

They then promptly ran away screaming about they too were now unclean, and needed to be purified, which incited Grell to run after them with the intent of punching them more. "Grell, you can't hit children!" I called after him.

Luckily, they escaped, and bumped past a nun (let's call her a nun) coming out from one of the corridors. The woman watched them go with a beatific smile. "Don't mind them," she turned her smile on us. "After a certain age, all people are considered impure. You must be new converts," she studied our clothes. "Don't worry, once you are immersed in the teachings of the Founder, you will be cleansed."

_Well that isn't creepy at all. _She wandered closer to me with a smile. _On another note, do I know you?_ She looked vaguely familiar to me. I think I'd probably shared lodgings with her at some point. Yes, that was it. We used to wash each other's backs*. _What's her name again? Cathy? No, I think it started with an M. Mary...Martha...Madeleine..._

"Matilda!" My eyes widened when the name came to me.

She giggled and waved a hand at me. "I was wondering when you were going to recognise me." I hugged her, trying not to flinch at the freaky aura around her. "I'm so excited that you're a new convert!" She beamed at me.

"What? Oh right, right," I smiled while trying to distance myself from her as naturally as possible. "Speaking of which, what do you mean by _impure_? I've hugged you. Does that mean that you have to be cleansed or what?" I wasn't just asking for information, I was genuinely curious.

Matilda smiled at me, that strange, perfect, saintly smile. "So many questions," she laughed. "I will explain everything to you and your companions in detail." _Whoop! Score one for me!_ No doubt Sebastian would have tried to seduce her, and there would be _nothing_ of the sort while I was around. I'd kill him if he dared do that.

...huh, where did that come from?

When she turned to address Ciel, I met Sebastian's curious smile with a grin, and quickly composed myself when she turned back to me. "In the meantime, you must be cleansed and given new clothes. I don't believe we have anything for you at the moment, but I'm sure we could procure some by tomorrow. Thalia, come with me." _Oh, wait, you meant now?_

I was taken to a large, communal-looking bath, and scrubbed within an inch of my life by three other nuns who really did not understand the benefits of personal space. Ah well, at least I was clean by the end of it. Cleaner than I'd ever been, barring that time Sebastian had ambushed me in the bath.

One of them paused during the bath, and touched the back of my neck. "Miss, what is this thing on your back?"

"Uh..." I twisted my head around and caught the frowns on their faces. "A tattoo," I lied. "Why? Is something wrong?"

They shot each other glances, and one placed her hands on my shoulders. "It resembles the mark of a demon," she explained. "I do not know why you chose to have this on your skin, but you must remove it soon, before one of those _damned creatures_ thinks you're its Mate."

_Well, it's a little late for that._ I nodded silently, and resigned myself to the rest of the bath. When they were finally finished with me, Matilda led me to a room where I was allowed to change into a new dress. It was white, with lilac ribbons, and the colour clashed with the red in my hair.

"So..." I rubbed the last few drops of water from my hair with the towel, and glanced over at Matilda. She was sitting on one of the beds in the room, still smiling. I wanted to tell her to take a break, that no one else was here. Instead, I tossed my towel over my shoulder and stretched. "You said you'd tell me about this cu-...I mean, this following."

If she'd caught my slip up, she didn't comment on it. "You will be so happy here, Thalia," she chirped. "Our Founder is such a wonderful person. See, the Doomsday Books of those who live long lives become tainted." I settled beside her, focusing on her forehead so I wouldn't have to look into her eyes. "Our Founder purifies the tainted parts for us, so that we become pure again."

"Really?" I murmured. She nodded ecstatically, and then added that the Doomsday Books contained both the past and future of its owners. "So, this Founder can predict your lives?" That sounded...really ominous.

Not only that, he could also become privy to secrets about peoples' pasts that even they weren't aware of. "However, the only ones that learn about that are the children chosen for Heaven's Choir."

"Why?" I arched an eyebrow, finally making eye contact. "What are they singing? Do their hymns come from the books or something?"

She blushed and averted her eyes. "The nuances of it are probably different from simple singing," she giggled slightly, still refusing to meet my eyes. I arched an eyebrow and waited for her to answer. "They let their beautiful voices be heard from the Founder's bedroom."

_...the fuck?!_ "O-kay," I drew out the first vowel and slowly slid away from her. Before I could get too far away, she suddenly threw her arms around my shoulders in an embrace. "Um, what are you-?"

"You'll fit in perfectly, Thalia," she whispered into my ear, and I stiffened at her next words. "The Founder said so. You're perfect. You're _pure_."

* * *

oOo

* * *

"...and that is more or less all she told me," I finished my explanation, leaving out the last bit. I'd met everyone else in a corridor on the ground floor. The night had just arrived, and the sky was lit up with stars. The moon, however, was absent. "Let me tell you, this is one fucked up place," I shuddered and folded my arms across my chest. "Let's _leave_."

Sebastian hummed and glanced down at Ciel. Grell was nowhere to be found, not that I was complaining. "As only boys are being selected for Heaven's Choir, the young master is the only one able to get close to the Founder."

_HELL NO!_ "Really?" Ah, there was Grell. "Entering Heaven's Choir is something even I can do!" He was dressed in a choirboy outfit that he had stolen from one of the little boys. The kid was still crying. "So, how do I look?"

"Please give the child back his clothes," I replied immediately. "You are not a child, and I don't think you even identify as male." The reaper pouted at me, and then glared down at the sobbing child who was now yelling something about becoming unclean. "Grell, honestly, take of that-" I blinked at the sound. It sounded like a choir singing, and it was coming from the main hall. "What's going on?"

The child stopped crying, and beamed. "The time for the Founder's purification ceremony has come!"

"Purification?" Grell frowned.

Sebastian stared at the windows above the main hall. "As I thought, something really stinks," he muttered. I frowned up at him and asked him if something was wrong. "Nothing," he replied, but he was scowling. "I have just perceived the stench of an apple that has fallen to the ground and rotted through."

"Fallen?" The singing rose in crescendo, and I turned to stare at the building, and then back to Ciel. "Well, after Grell returns those clothes back to the child, why don't we go see what this ceremony entails?"

The main area was lit by candles, and every pew was filled apart from the back row, which was where we took our seats. Grell did make a scene when I claimed the seat closest to Sebastian. "You can't have that seat!" He whined. "I want to cuddle with Sebastian! You're not even going to take advantage of the position!"

"Would you be quiet?" I hissed back. "People are staring! And I will sit next to Sebastian if I damn well please, and I don't have to cuddle with him!" I did end up cuddling him, and I'm not sure how it happened. I'm sure Sebastian didn't mind, and he probably preferred me to Grell anyway. _I blame this on the fucked up aura of this place._

Between ignoring the poisonous looks being shot at me, and studying the people around us curiously, I really wasn't paying too much attention, so I couldn't help jolting when the cadence of the organ music changed. A man walked onto the stage. His robe was different from other ones, it was more regal, and he was wearing a hood that hid most of his face. My grip on Sebastian's arm tightened just a fraction.

And then he spoke. "Tonight," he started. "All sinful uncleanness will be purged from here!" Two people were pushed onto the stage, a man and a woman. The only thing covering them were gray blankets, which were stripped away, revealing a large black version of the insignia that had been tattooed on their backs.

Another man stepped onto the stage, and handed the Founder two books._ Are those them?_ Were those the missing Cinematic Records? Sebastian asked Grell, and the reaper pouted, letting up his glares to reply. "We're too far away to be sure," he huffed.

"Let us read from the Doomsday Books of these impure, stray children." One of the books was opened, the woman's. "Jill Peasant," he intoned. "Born the second daughter of a farmer, fell pregnant at the age of fifteen. Thomas Atkins," he opened the man's book. "Though he has not committed any noticeable evildoings, he has let the years pass meaninglessly, and that is a grave sin."

My eyes widened in shock when both suddenly began to shake and scream. Black miasma seemed to encompass them, and yet everyone seemed so calm. Murmurs and whispers of prayers filled the room, and then the glass mural of the angel began to glow gold. "What...?" The light grew brighter, and we were watching the people, watching their records like a cinema reel. I fought the urge to bury my face in Sebastian's shoulder.

"Get rid of the immoral! Get rid of the useless!" I jerked. I'd heard those words before. "Get rid of the barren, get rid of the unclean!" _Unclean._ That was what the puppet had called Ciel, but not me. What made me any different? Well, apart from the fact that Ciel had handed his soul over to a demon. "Get rid of it!"

The visions shattered, and they both screamed as though their souls were being pierced by hot needles. Finally, the glow receded, and the newly purified couple were draped in new blankets and led away. The Founder spoke, and there were cries of adoration from his congregation.

_You know what, I don't give a fuck anymore. _"Hold me," I muttered to Sebastian, and I snuggled closer when he draped his arm over my shoulders and pulled me to his side. God knew I needed the comfort. "Now what?" I looked over at Ciel. The boy was staring fixedly at the stage. No, at the Founder. "Ciel?"

The ceremony ended soon after, and the four of us stayed behind to discuss the events. "This is strange," Grell moaned. "The books that guy was carrying weren't Cinematic Records."

"Then that would mean that he has no power to see the past," Ciel said. _So what were all those visions we saw?_ Could the books be copied? Would still they retain a bit of their power if they were? I wanted to ask, but I was certain that Grell would probably respond rudely, and then I'd respond rudely, and then it would become some sort of catfight, and then Ciel would tell us both to shut up.

Besides, all would be revealed soon enough, I was certain of it. "Ah, you are still here!" We looked over. Three nuns beamed at us, their hands clasped together (except for the one who was holding the lantern). "Heaven's grace has been bestowed upon you!"

By that, they meant that Ciel had been chosen for the Heaven's Choir. If this was not necessary for our mission, I would have panicked and hugged him tightly while screaming _no_ very adamantly. I did none of this, however, and instead watched as my little cousin was led off by the nuns, with Sebastian right behind him.


	52. Paper Boats

**Oooh this chapter came out worse than I thought it would...please enjoy it and let me know your thoughts about it!**

**I own nothing other than Thalia**

**Paper Boats**

I had been standing still for too long, watching and waiting. The hall was empty now, devoid of life and light, save for a few flickering candles, the Founder and another cloaked figure that stood behind him.

My eyes traced the familiar symbol that had been etched into the walls, and painted on the glass, even as I listened for Ciel to arrive. I wondered where Ciel's mark was, where had they branded him? I felt the familiar urge to touch that one area high on my left thigh, almost on my hip, and squeezed my hand into a fist.

Odd how, although the pain was long gone, it still lingered in my mind in some phantasmal way.

I had never told anyone about it, not even Sebastian, although I suspect he knew I had it somewhere. I wondered where he was now, and where Grell was for that matter. The red reaper and I did not get along, but his presence would be marginally better than being alone in such a frightening place.

It was cold, and the clothes the nuns had given me were little protection against the cold stone. I thought of warm things, of nights spent curled up with Morgan and Minthe, of hot tea and summer sunlight. A thought crept up on me, of times spent curled up in my mother's arms, a chipped mug of hot chocolate to share between both of us.

Chocolate was expensive, but mother ensured that we had at least one cup every Sunday. Sundays were her days off, when the men couldn't come in because they were in church with their wives and children, saying _Hail Mary_ and praying for forgiveness. I didn't care, because those were the days that mother and I could go out, pretend we didn't live the lives we did for just a few hours a week.

And then we'd come back, sneak in through the back entrance because the boss didn't like any of the girls leaving for too long, and curl up together with a hot mug held in our hands, hers over mine. Each time, she would ask me how much sugar I wanted, and I would say none, because I knew how much each spoonful cost, and I loved her all the more for it.

And sometimes I'd sit outside and watch the other kids, the respectable ones – in their pretty blue and pink dresses, and tailor-made skirts – watch them hop into the sweet shop across the road, and come out with pastel blue paper bags. Their mouths would be stuffed full with barely sugar, cheeks and lips bulging against lollipops and chocolate drops, and I'd huff and look away, pretending not to care one way or another even as I kicked a rock and squeezed the few coins one of the dames or a man had slipped me for a treat.

The steady sounds of muffled footsteps jolted me out of my thoughts, and I was already straightening by the time the door creaked open loudly. I peered around the corner and caught sight of Ciel, dressed in the same choirboy outfit as those children earlier. It looked...odd, strange, disgusting. I didn't like it. "I brought him with me, Founder," one of the nuns dipped her head and stepped aside.

"You may leave now," the Founder replied curtly. They bowed again, and shuffled out, fingers clenched together piously underneath the sleeves of their robes. The Founder watched them go, and turned to Ciel. "How lovely you've become, Ciel..." I tensed at the wording, although there was little emotion or inflection in them. "This way..."

I heard shuffling and quiet clicks as Ciel stepped closer, higher up the stage. I couldn't see what the Founder was showing him, but I assumed it was one of the books. At any rate, I heard him when he spoke. "It is a great honour to have been chosen by the Founder himself," he said.

Silence, and then the Founder spoke again, this time he sounded faintly amused. "Let me read to you from the book," he spoke, and I wished I could see what was happening better. "Let me read you a book," he repeated. "Until you fall asleep. Tonight is special, after all."

_What?_ I tensed, my hands already going for my knives – or knife, the nuns had forced me (politely of course) to relinquish almost all of them. I'd only managed to keep hold of one – as I gathered up my courage and shifted closer to the corner's edge and peeked around.

The Founder had placed his hand on Ciel's head and was gently sifting through his hair underneath the choirboy hat. It was an odd gesture, affectionate, something you might do to a younger sibling or a son. That still didn't stop the alarm bells from going off in my mind, but I forced myself to stay put. If Ciel needed me, he would call, and if I saw that he needed me then I would jump in.

_Let us erase it._

The voice that echoed in the chamber shocked me, and my eyes instinctively, somehow, went to the gorgeous stained glass angel that stood above the stage.

_The sin that you have given birth to, let us erase it._

Ciel gave a choked gasp, and I snapped out of my trance to see the Founder's large hands wrap around his neck. "Ciel!" I screamed, running in, but before I could get closer, something stopped me. A force lashed around my body and yanked me to a stop. I couldn't move.

_The sin on your skin, in your eyes, let us erase it. Let us burn it out._

I could feel my vision whitening, white flames licking up my legs, my back, my neck and eyes. I heard a distant sound, like glass smashing. I heard someone calling my name, and felt hands caressing my throat and cheek. A sickly sweet smell surrounded me, like overripe fruit, and soft laughter. Someone screamed, and I heard my name again.

Then nothing.

* * *

oOo

* * *

When Ciel came too, he found himself in a large building that seemed to be a library. Brown shelves lined with rows upon rows of books stretched from the bottom floor to the arched ceiling, and out into what seemed like eternity.

He hurt, but he forced himself to sit up so he could take in his surroundings in a haze of confusion, until a soft voice spoke up. "Have you woken up?" The angel, Angela, sat on a couch that was similar to his own. Her hands were folded on her lap, and her smile was benign. He had almost forgotten about her, as it had been months since he'd seen her. Her wings moved gently, casually, and she was stroking something on her lap while watching him out of deceptively gentle eyes.

_Thalia. _His cousin lay prone on the cushioned chair, her hair fanned out on Angela's lap as the angel continued to thread her fingers through each strand with what could almost have been called affection. "So it was you," he snarled. "Angela Bran."

She smiled and the movement of her hand stilled. "How did touching the past feel?" She wondered, as though he hadn't accused her of anything. "Was it the alluring smoothness of velvet, or the roughness of washed out cotton?"

"Quiet!" Ciel snapped, cutting her off. "Back then..." he could still feel the terrifyingly familiar way the Founder had reached for him and ruffled his head. His teeth grit and his eyes narrowed. "That hand...that was my father's hand!"

She didn't respond, but merely continued to smile at him.

He straightened and climbed off the couch, fury growing in his chest, mixed with the confusion. "You killed him," he yelled. "Why? Why did you kill my parents? How did it benefit y-!"

She cut him off with a low hum. "_Kill,_" she echoed carelessly. "_Kill. _What an eerie word," she resumed stroking Thalia's hair, although she didn't take her eyes off him. "Now think about it. Was it really me who took your parents' lives? That butler of yours...no," her smiled was less beatific now, and shadows darkened her eyes. "Was it not _you_ who put them to death a second time?"

A memory played in his mind, a glimpse under the Founder's cloak, the brief sight of the edge of a mutilated face surrounded by shadows. His eyes widened, horror creeping up on him. At that moment, Thalia made a sound, the start of a whimper, and then she smiled in her sleep. It was a peaceful upturn of her lips, and his eyes narrowed further. "What are you doing to her?"

The angel blinked down at the prone female on her lap as though she had forgotten her presence. "I am destroying what made her impure," she smiled down at her. "You know, your cousin and I have met before. It was a long time ago though, when she was just another young thief in this filthy country..."

Ciel frowned, but kept quiet. Though he knew about Thalia's past, or as much of it as the girl had told, this seemed to be something new. Something she had never told him.

"I found her, a long time ago, and I tried to purify her. Ah, she was so impure then, with all that darkness inside her..." the angel gave a regretful sigh, smoothing the tangles in Thalia's hair with deceptively gentle fingers. "But I saw a way to make her soul as pure as freshly fallen snow. Then that demon stopped me."

She carefully rose to her feet, placing Thalia's head on the couch, and turned to face Ciel. "It's too late for him now, though. And how splendid," she sighed dreamily. "That _you_ are able to still retain presence of mind even after touching that distorted past."

Ciel took a step back as her wings spread, shedding soft white feathers that never seemed to quite reach the ground. "Why you..."

She flapped those wings once, rising up into the air, and then she was right in front of him. "You are full of stains," she said softly, almost imploringly. "But if you throw off this thin skin, a precious brilliance will emerge! I can remove it, the dirt inside you, just as I can remove the stain on your cousin's skin."

The boy took a step back, and grunted when the angel grabbed his chin and jerked him forward. Large wings closer around him, shrouding him in oppressive grey-black shadows.

"I shall do this for both of you. I shall rewrite this sordid, unseemly past that has stained you both."

* * *

oOo

* * *

"_Thalia..." my lashes fluttered, torn between waking and dreaming. The hand on my shoulder was slender and familiar, and I tucked my head closer to it. Someone laughed softly, and it was like warm molasses. Fingers stroked through my hair slowly. "Wake up sweetheart. You dozed off on me. Don't you want any chocolate?"_

_I grumbled, but forced my eyes open, letting rays of honey-tinted light in. Mama stared back at me, her grey-blue eyes tired and lined, her black hair a little limp around her pale face, but her lips were still stretched in a loving smile. I reached up for her, grabbing her cheeks with small fingers, and pulling her down so she could kiss my nose and my forehead, like always. She laughed against my hair, hair like red silk, and lifted me up from the bed. At age nine, I was smaller and thinner than the average child, but I was glad of that. It meant that mama never strained herself too much when she tried to carry me._

* * *

oOo

* * *

William T. Spears's day was not going at all like he had planned. While all jobs did come with a level risk, he was certain that he was not getting paid enough for what he had to put up with.

He adjusted his glasses with the tip of his scythe as he led his subordinate – really, why did he still have to take care of Grell? How long would he have to clean up after the incompetent reaper? – and the black-haired demon towards the room where the Cinematic Records were kept. "Angels have the power to alter cinematic records," he explained as they walked.

"They can change the past?" The demon asked curiously.

William didn't look at him when he responded. He had avoided doing that ever since he'd run into the two of them. "Not even god himself can do that," he replied curtly. "They just give people a false sense of peace. Although they leave the past completely untouched, an angel is able to alter the way the person viewed the events. Thus, they can manipulate the person into believing that whatever happened was not necessarily negative."

They could cause the human to view the events as not being as bad as they had thought, or even as something good and necessary when, in fact, it was not. The realization of what was occurring stunned Sebastian. _She could take away Ciel's hatred._

That hatred that had shaped he boy's soul into the delicious meal that it was, that would make his meal so wonderfully rewarding. His time would have been wasted, and he would be left with nothing to show for it. But still... "Then why did she take Thalia?"

William paused for a moment and seemed to consider something, and then he resumed walking. "Your...Mate, I seem to recall?" He asked, not expecting an answer. "I did some research into why her soul seemed so strange to me when we met. Were you aware that her soul was broken?"

_Broken?_ Then how was she alive? Human beings could not survive without a complete soul. At the very least – he thought back to the Bizarre Dolls – they couldn't function very well as actual humans. "How did you realise this?" He asked.

"Her Cinematic Record," William replied curtly. "According to it, she was to die at birth. I'm sure you're aware of how her mother died," he didn't wait for a confirmation or a denial. "The impact from the crash should have killed her, whether immediately or later on from the surgery. Her soul had already begun to pull apart. She hadn't even been born, and she had little to no life to speak of," William adjusted his glasses again. "Her soul was still weak, and had little form of its own.

_But that woman saved her._ Sebastian thought back to the diary Thalia had shown them. Yet, once some things are lost, they cannot be regained. Souls happened to be one of those precious, irreplaceable things.

Thalia had been born with part of her soul missing. Little as that missing piece was, the gap was there. By all accounts, her body should have broken down little by little as the rip widened like a tear in fabric, until she died at a considerably young age.

The door of the library was ahead of them now, and Sebastian hurried forward. _Being the Mate of a demon – and such a powerful one – had in some way plugged up the hole in her soul, stitched up the torn parts, so that she was able to live. That was why she'd been just that bit stronger, and faster than the average human._

_Which was good. _Sebastian reached for the handle and pulled it down. _But it was also bad..._

_Because it meant that any another supernatural creature, so long as it had the resources and strength, could try to displace it._

* * *

oOo

* * *

_The room smelled like cheap perfume and damp, but also like warmth and cocoa. I wrapped my arms around mama's neck and nuzzled my face there as she lifted me off the bed, and set me on the ground. I flexed my toes against the threadbare carpet, and rubbed my eyes with the sleeve of the torn shirt I was wearing. The scene seemed blurry, dreamlike, but that wasn't so bad. There was nothing wrong with dreaming. _

_A moment later, mama handed me the steaming mug of cocoa in a pristine new mug. White and pink, flowers on the ceramic and no cracks on the edges. I stared at it silently, a thought niggling at the back of my mind that something was wrong. "Don't you want it anymore, mon ange?"_

_Ange. Angel. I had forgotten that she called me that. Whenever I was good, whenever she was in a good mood. My worries faded, pushed to the back of my mind and buried underneath the comforting smell of bittersweet cocoa and honey-thick sunlight. I smiled and shook my head, and lifted the mug to my lips. The first sip tasted strange, different from what I was used to. It tasted unfamiliar, but I caught mama's eyes over the top of the rim and her smile calmed me. Maybe she'd bought another brand, something less expensive._

_I gulped it down faster, not noticing that I'd drunk more than half. I couldn't do that, I was supposed to share with mama. "Drink it all up, cerise," she cooed, reaching over to slide her fingers through my hair as I continued to gulp it down. "Mama wants you to have all of it. Today is a special day, isn't it? I even used sugar, just the way you like..."_

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian caught Ciel as the boy fell, his soul having resisted being purged and rewritten completely. Angela hissed loudly, her smile falling for the first time as her hands clenched into fists. "Ugh, how dreadful a tainted heart is," she groaned. "Black, covered in _filth. _How terrible such a thing is." Ciel eyed her as he was set down, and she sighed softly, and smiled again. "Well, I suppose we just have to see how _she_ reacts now..."

"If the young master was able to resist, what makes you think she won't?" The demon snarled.

Angela smiled knowingly. "He might have a soul strong enough to resist, but hers is incomplete. Besides..." she tapped her chin as she pretended to think. "I wonder, have you ever asked her about her brand?" Eyes shifted imperceptibly, and Ciel wondered why he'd never actually questioned Thalia on her own scar, a match to his own. "Of course you haven't. And I'm sure she's never told you anything about it either."

Sebastian ground his teeth together, feeling his eyes begin to glow red. "What about the brand is so important?"

The angel smirked and turned to cup Thalia's cheek. "Not much, but it tells me one thing: she is weak. Weaker than you thought. And if she is weak, then she is unfit to be your Mate, isn't she?" Sebastian's jaw tensed, and she smiled wider. "However, by purifying her I will make her strong. I will destroy the unholy bond you dared place on her skin!"

A scream ripped through the air, high pitched, grating, loud. It was one that spoke of, and evoked terror. Ciel felt the hairs on his arms rise as the unholy sound continued to pour from her mouth. On the couch, Sebastian could only watch his Mate scream, and scream. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, she stopped. The silence that was left was tense, torn, and was broken by Angela's quiet laughter.

"Oh Thalia..." On the couch, her body lurched forward. First to a sitting position, and then she rose to her feet entirely. Her body was pulled straight, but something about the way her limbs and neck swung reminded Ciel of a puppet being pulled by strings. It reminded him of that night in that castle, with the dolls and their maker; pulled and controlled by invisible strings.

"Thalia," Angela's voice was sickly sweet, and the girl twitched and raised her head slowly. Her eyes were shut, and her lips were parted. "Open your eyes, my angel. Let them know what you are now."

Seconds passed, and slowly her eyes began to open to reveal one eye that was red as freshly spilled blood, and another that had turned blue as ice.

* * *

oOo

* * *

_Sugar? _

_Mother never added sugar to our chocolate. Not without asking me. "Who are you?" I pulled away from her, the mug slipping from my fingers. I heard it as it fell to the ground, spilling everywhere, but I paid it little mind. "Mama never adds sugar," I said aloud. "You're not my mother..." _

_The woman's eyes flickered as though realising her mistake. Her smile dimmed slightly, and then came back with frightening intensity. The hazy, dreamlike quality of the scene sharpened in an instant. My mother jerked, no, the _room_ jerked. The world shifted, like it was going out of focus, like the static on a radio. I looked down and saw that where the mug had landed, there was a large gold chalice out of which something thick and red had spilled from. _

_The walls warped, flashing from the warmth of the bedroom, to a stone chamber lit only by torches and littered with blood and chains. My hands went to my hair, and I found that it had turned white like freshly fallen snow. Fingers that had been thin, but still soft and padded with baby fat, had turned long and slender, and covered in calluses._

Thalia. Thalia. **Thalia.**

_The figure on the bed was rising, still smiling widely. Her movements fast, jerky and uncoordinated like a broken doll. "__**Thalia,**__" she, it spoke as she lurched closer. "__**You haven't finished the drink. Why don't you finish it? Don't you like what your mother made for you?**__"_

_Fire simmered in my throat, growing steadily hotter. I turned and fled the room, paying no attention to the way patterns on the walls changed and moved. __**Tainted skin,**__ a voice said disapprovingly.__** What an impure claim that demon has on you. Don't worry, we'll remove it. Burn it out, the dirt, the filth!**_

_The skin of my back erupted with pain, as though someone was trying to set the skin on fire and peel it away with the dull edge of a red-hot knife._

No. _No. __**No!**__ Beyond the pain, I felt cold panic at the thought of what was happening. The mark, that bit of my skin that somehow linked me to Sebastian, she was trying to destroy it! I clawed at my back, at where the blade might be. "No! Leave me alone! __**Leave me alone!**__"_

* * *

oOo

* * *

Sebastian felt something akin to pain twist inside him as her eyes fixed blankly ahead at nothing. "Thalia..."

Her eyes twitched in his direction, but nothing showed in those irises. Behind them, Angela laughed. "Isn't she lovely?" She cooed, moving to circle the girl. As she did, her form changed, becoming masculine until Ash stood behind her. "She isn't complete right now, but as soon as the purification process is complete, and as soon as I have destroyed that disgusting mark on her back," Sebastian snarled when the angel raised a finger to tip her chin up so that those empty eyes were staring right at him. "Well then, I suppose she would be mine then, wouldn't you say?"

He snapped and attacked, and Ash unsheathed his sword and prepared to meet him head on. Suddenly, Thalia screeched. It was shorter and sharper than her earlier scream, but it stopped both in their tracks. Her body crumpled to its knees, her arms coming up to wrap around her waist. "Thalia!"

Violent shudders wracked her body, and when she raised her head her eyes were wide, unfocused. The sclera was white and flooded with pained tears. "_Don't touch me_," she rasped out to something they couldn't see. "_Leave me alone!_"

Ash hissed. "She's clinging to the impurity," he snarled, shifting back into Angela. "How immoral. Stagnant, corrupt, _dark_. Showing mercy was of no use, just as I thought. Let me purge you, right here and now."

Sebastian rose to his feet, fury gleaming behind his eyes and in the sharpness teeth. "I will be your opponent," she pulled out several knives.

"Disturbances in the library fall under the jurisdiction of Death Gods," William stepped forward. "I suppose we cannot allow this to pass. Let us join this altercation, Sutcliffe." The three stepped forward, weapons at the ready, only for a familiar figure glad in black and gray to pass right in front of them pushing a trolley full of books.

_Wait._

"Undertaker?!" Ciel yelped, and the man turned from where he appeared to be placing the books back into their proper shelves. Of all people, he certainly hadn't expected to see him there.

The Undertaker giggled and waved a hand at the Earl. "Hello earl."

"Huh? Why is _he_ here?!" Grell yelled. "Don't tell me we have to fight him as well?!"

William adjusted his glasses and huffed. "Undertaker, a _shinigami _that went rogue several years ago. I suppose you and Ronald were telling the truth after all," he eyed the grey-haired man with some distaste. "This is an annoying situation."

Forgetting about the angel, Ciel turned to him. "What are you doing here?" He snapped.

He tilted his head to the side, and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I came to replace a few records I borrowed for my...experiment," he giggled as though what he had said was funny. "But I see that you have stumbled on something interesting here. It has been a while since I have seen a fallen angel..."

Light flashed, and they whirled around to stare as Angela ascended into the air. "Well, since you all appear rather _busy_," she smirked. "I will start by taking care of that _filth _in the monastery. So let me show you the end the world will meet if ruled by impurity."

Sebastian flung knives at her, but she disappeared into the brightness. _Thalia!_

She was still kneeling on the ground, but at some point she had stopped shaking. In fact, she had stopped moving. Her body was frozen entirely in place. Behind them, Undertaker laughed loudly. "Since today has been amusing enough for me, and because I do like the little maid," he pulled out his scythe and jumped over them, landing right next to her. "I'll give you a hint!"

The impossibly sharp blade fell faster than they thought, and Sebastian was just a second too late to catch it as it sliced into skin and Thalia screamed.

**Please read and review! **


	53. Red Angel

**Okay, prepare for some angst! I really hope I did this right. Please let me know if I did this right.**

**This entire chapter is in the 3****rd**** person. I own nothing other than Thalia and all things pertaining to her!**

**Red Angel**

"_Hello."_

_My eyes flickered open slowly. I was no longer in the corridor, nor was the scene a familiar one at all. Instead, I was sitting on the floor of a room lit up by something glowing underneath the surface. The ground felt cold to touch, and smooth, like glass. I could see a faint reflection of myself in it: red hair, but I still looked the same way I always did._

"_Hello."_

_There was someone standing several feet away, her voice echoing. I got to my feet as she began to walk closer, and something compelled me to move as well. As we got closer, I noticed more things about her. Like how her clothes were like my own, but white instead of black, and how her eyes were like mine, but blue instead of red._

_And how she looked exactly like me, but with colours altered. As if someone had painted over me with a different palette. Cool blues instead of vivid red; and pure white in place of black. "Who are you?" _

_She tilted her head to the left, and smiled. "I am the purified you," she answered softly. "I am all that you could be, if only you threw off the filth on your skin and allowed the angel to make you clean."_

"_Clean? She tried to use a messed up version of my own mother to get me!" I could feel my voice rising. "Her so-called purity is sick, and twisted, and I would never submit myself to something like that!"_

_The Me before me straightened her neck. "Not even for mother?" She asked, and I stuttered on my reply. "Would she want this? For her sweet, little angel – the one good thing she had in her life – to willingly agree to be the Mate of a demon? To happily bed a servant of Hell? To merrily consent to be tainted by a creature that wades through the blood of the damned?" _

_The words were sharp barbs, and I stared at the ground. Where I stood had turned inky black, filthy. Where she stood glowed white, ethereal and lovely, and I wondered if there was truly filth on my skin, dirty marks that she could see all over my body._

"_You're even content to let that foul creature devour your own cousin's soul." I winced, and felt cool fingers brush against my cheek. "The cousin you claim to love so dearly, you're not willing to try to save him," she clicked her tongue disappointedly. "Truly, you are wretched. Yet, we can change that..." _

_I looked at her and she smiled into my eyes, and the longer I stared, the more I began to lose touch with who was looking at whom. It would be so easy to slip away, to just relinquish my control. It would be so easy, and maybe it would even be for the best. I wasn't strong, like Ciel. I couldn't fight for myself; I could only fight for other people. My strength and confidence only came when I had someone to act as a shield for._

_On my own, I was weak and useless. I had nothing of my own, just what I was from others._

_**But you love him, don't you?**_

_The words jolted me, and I blinked and broke the eye contact for just a second. I immediately became aware of a dull pain lacing up and down my back, just beneath my shoulder blades._

_**You love him. Sebastian. Ciel. Snake. Mey-Rin, Bard and Finny. All of them. If you cannot fight this for yourself, then fight it for them. You are of no use lost like this.**_

_I giggled. I couldn't help it. It was funny how much my internal motivational speaker sounded so much like Ciel. I pulled away, and the Other Me began to frown. Up until then she had only shown the same sweet, benign smile. Now the sides of her lips began to fall. "What are you doing?" She asked._

"_I don't want to become pure," I replied, stepping back. "I have always been a child of the darkness, and I have willingly chosen the world I am in. It may not be ideal, but I am happy." Because there could be beauty in the shadows, and horror in the light, but how and when I found these was for me to discover on my own. _

_Now her smile was gone entirely, and her face changed to something cold and cruel. "If you will not be purified this way, then I will do it by force! And you __**will**__ regret it." Then she flew at me, her body slamming into my own. I felt her essence intertwine with my own, the light and the dark warring inside me. I fell to my knees._

_And then I felt the razor sharp edge of a blade as it split apart skin._

* * *

oOo

* * *

Undertaker raised his scythe and put it to his side. Sebastian gathered his Mate in his arms, searching her for any damage. There were now two slits just beneath her shoulder blades. They looked deep, and blood poured from the wounds.

"Don't look at put out, butler~" he giggled when Sebastian levelled him with a murderous look. The demon looked like he was prepared to kill in the most brutal way possible. The edges of his coat had begun to dissolve into black smoke, and his eyes glowed with vicious intent. "I did you a favour, no matter how small~. You will thank me for this, or the Maid will. Had I not done that, it would have been much, much worse."

Sebastian's eyes narrowed, but he forced himself to calm down. Thalia hung limp in his arms when he picked her up, but her chest rose and fell with every shallow breath. He could feel her blood seeping into the fabric of his coat. "Very well," he replied curtly. "Now, shouldn't we be leaving?"

They soon found that the large double doors of the room had been sealed shut, and no amount of pushing or pulling would open them up. "Good grief," Will sighed. "It seems that we have been locked in." Undertaker's smile never faltered, and a single book higher up the shelves darkened and flew from its place to land on the ground. It's pages began to flicker back and forth, and William bent to pick it up. "This is a Cinematic Record from someone in the monastery."

_At that moment, the stained glass window begins to glow. A slaughtering angel has descended upon the monastery._

Ciel gritted his teeth and stared at the Undertaker. It was bit of a blow to his pride to ask the former mortician for help, but he seemed to be the one person capable of getting them out of their current predicament. "We should stop her."

Sebastian arched an eyebrow at the younger boy. "Oh, is this an act of kindness?" He asked mockingly. "Were you not inclined to destroy the monastery in time?"

"Don't get me wrong," Ciel snapped back, his tone growing steely and cold. "This is _not_ because I want to help them. I still plan to see this place crumble brick by brick, I simply don't want _her_ doing whatever she pleases."

Grell huffed and placed his hands on his hips. "Even so, what are you going to do? We can't even move from here!" That much was fairly certain, until William sighed loudly and adjusted his glasses.

"No," he revealed. "We actually do have one thing. An ultimate tool of the Death Gods, something that is only given to the highest ranking officers in the Dispatch Management Division..."

That special tool – which Undertaker had, of course – turned out to be a pink bookmark known as the Death Bookmark. Unassuming as it seemed, it could, upon placement, temporarily stop someone's life while events occurred around them.

The Red Pen (somewhat less unassuming than its counterpart) could then be used to add to the person's life. "The woman's name is Matilda Simons," Undertaker read. "_Purified by the hand of the angel in the monastery._" Upon Ciel's inquiery as to whether that was all that was written there, he then produced a fancy feathered pen and prepared to write in the book.

He was stopped by Ciel. "Wait, Thalia is still unconscious." They all turned to stare at the woman, unharmed apart from the two gashes on her back and whatever psychological damage Angela had put her through. Sebastian didn't trust anyone in the present company protect her adequately apart from...

As much as he loathed to admit it, the only person present that could be remotely trusted to take care of her was Will. The reaper was disciplined, he would admit, and could control Grell. Sebastian turned to the bespectacled reaper. "Do take care of her for me."

William winced as the woman was deposited in his arms, although he felt the faintest stirrings of pity for her predicament, he still grimaced, but he didn't drop her.

A chuckle, and Undertaker raised the pen again. "In that case, _at that very moment,_" he wrote. "_Sebastian Michaelis appeared onstage._" The demon disappeared in a flash, startling Grell. "And now he is gone!"

Ciel eyed the pen with wary curiousity. "A useful tool," he commented.

"It is," Undertaker agreed, continuing to write. "Although it is not omnipotent. _Before Matilda's very eyes, which are intently following the struggle, William T. Spears, bearing Thalia Thorne, and Grell Sutcliffe appear,_" he hummed and chortled to himself as the three disappeared. "This should be interesting~"

* * *

oOo

* * *

Within the cathedral, the three had crucified the angel to the wall. Thalia's body lay on one of the pews, and seeing her only fuelled the blood rage the demon was already in. Sebastian grinned sadistically, more than a little prepared to drain the angel dry of blood, no matter how long it took. "Shall we put this dartboard to good use?" The question was rhetorical, as he flung a knife and stabbed her through her upper arm. "Oh, did I miss? Now _where_ shall I put the next one?"

"I want to play too!" Grell cheered, and Will quietly muttered something scathing.

Above them, Angela grunted in pain, blood flowing down her neck and arm and staining her dress and wings. Suddenly she turned to them with a smile, and then she screamed. Her pupils and irises disappeared into the white sclera. The sound was loud, reverberating, and horrifying.

Thalia began to scream as well, her body flailing as she sat up and she fell to her knees. There was a sickening crack of bone, of something shifting under her skin, and the sound of the angel nearly drowning out the pain-filled pleas and sobs as she hunched over herself. Her voice rose in pitch and volume, until – with another disgusting snap of bone – wings broke free of her back.

Blood covered wings, seraphic and grey in colour. They thrashed uncontrollably, throwing her from side to side.

"_Thalia!_" Sebastian ran to her, dropping to catch her shoulders and hold her still before she hurt herself even more. She was still shaking, and it didn't look as though she could see beyond the agony. The angel was glowing white-hot, and the cathedral began to shake. Brick broke free of the walls and roof and began to fall, the whole place would come down in a minute. "What are you trying to do? Destroy this place along with yourself?"

_Erase the barren. Erase the unclean._

"This place is crumbling!" Grell screeched. Sebastian hissed and wrapped an arm around his Mate's waist. Her back was covered in blood, and he felt fear and anger warring within him.

He had no time for anything else. He spared a cursory glance at one of the women, her friend if he recalled correctly. "To stay or to escape," he spoke curtly. "The choice is yours."

Many chose to run, while many chose to stay crouched over in positions of prayer and penitence. Sebastian rose to his feet, Thalia cradled in his arms. Behind him, he heard Will giving an order for he and Grell to pull back. As the reapers raced ahead of him, Sebastian turned to stare at the angel for a moment. Something about this didn't sit well with him, but he had no time to think over it.

The cathedral broke apart and fell to pieces behind him, killing everyone who happened to be inside.

It was dawn by that time, Undertaker having taken his leave after depositing Ciel outside the monastery. The boy was briefly surprised by the appearance of Thalia's new appendages, but he supposed that was what Undertaker had meant when he said he had done them a favour.

They left the blackened, broken remains of the monastery behind, and as they walked Ciel glanced up at his butler and his cousin. "You will have to explain to me exactly what happened and why."

"Of course, my lord."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Thalia was confined to her room, away from the other servants. None of them were told why, but they all knew something was wrong. They could hear Pluto whining outside her window, and getting up on his hind legs to snuffle against the glass until Sebastian shooed him away.

Thalia never reached out for him. In fact, she barely spoke other than the barest minimum needed to get through the day. Sebastian tended to her day and night, applying bandages to her back as often as necessary, and leaving only to prepare food for Ciel. The earl came to see her, although she didn't speak to him either. More often than not, she just stared at him as though trying to see something in him. It was unnerving.

Three days passed before she said more than a sentence to them. It was during one of Ciel's visits. The boy had brought a newspaper with him, as it felt far less awkward if he was doing something when she stared. "It has occurred to me," Thalia said quietly, so casually that it barely registered as something to be surprised over. "That I never told you where my brand was, did I?"

They both stared at her, sitting on the bed, both small and yet larger than life. The black-white wings did not move much, save for an almost imperceptible rise and fall of the appendages in time with every breath. Ciel twitched, and beside him Sebastian tensed and glanced down at the younger boy. She wasn't looking at either of them, her eyes fixed on a stray bit of thread she was plucking from the blankets. "Do you mean...the brand similar to the one I have?" Ciel asked. Thalia nodded slowly, and the wings gave a miniscule, involuntary flex as her jaw tightened. "You are willing to show it?"

She shrugged and finally raised her head to give them a hollow stare. "Well, all things considered, I might as well," she said, reaching for the bottom of her shirt. "Besides, it's not like I have it anymore," she slid her fingers between the elastic of her pants, and her skin, and tugged downwards.

In spite of himself, Ciel felt his face flush as skin was bared, but he frowned. "What do you mean by tha-?" And there he had to stop. Because she was right, she didn't have it anymore.

The top of her right thigh was a mass of old scars that extended a few inches up her waist, but most of the damage rested on her hip. Some were slash marks, long and puffy, wrinkled, and paler than the skin around it. Others seemed like they were caused by blunt force, and left irregularly shaped, dark pink depressions.

Sebastian struggled to reign in his temper. "How did...?"

The scars disappeared back under the fabric, and she went back to playing with the fabric of the covers. "A few months after I escaped," her voice was emotionless, void of any feeling. "I had a nightmare about it. I'd always had nightmares about it, but I was usually able to calm myself down. This one was bad though," she paused. "I woke up, unsure whether or not I was back there or now, and I could feel the brand on my skin," she turned to Ciel, and her blank eyes unsettled him slightly. "Phantom pains, you know."

It wasn't a question. "No," he still said.

She hummed and looked away again. "I had those, even after the scar stopped hurting, but that night it hurt. It hurt, and I didn't know what to do," she began to smile. "I just wanted it off," she was giggling now. Quiet laughter. "I just wanted it _gone. _Gone, so I could pretend none of that had ever happened. So I stumbled around until I found the sharpest object I could..."

Ciel didn't need to hear anymore, he could already imagine it, a smaller version of the woman in front of him. Eyes wide and terrified, hurting herself over and over in the hope that it would make it all go away. Thalia was still giggling, the sound looping over and over, like she was stuck. It was making him feel sick.

"Stop it," he ordered.

Her laughter cut off, but the smile didn't leave. "At least it was a glass bottle, and not a rusty knife, right?" She kept smiling at her legs. "I think there might have been vodka in it. Alcohol kills germs. So, you see, it could have been much worse."

It still seemed terrible anyway. "How much did it hurt?" Ciel asked.

She blinked thoughtfully, and shrugged. "Not as bad as this," she replied. "Nothing was ever as bad as this." She recalled the time she thought Sebastian had died, but she was speaking of physical pain. _It was still worse._ "It makes me wonder if I'll experience something much worse."

Nothing else was said after that.


	54. Pity Party

**This chapter has a trigger warning for suicidal thoughts, and a quick mention of cutting. Both are mentioned in passing, and are not explicitly described, but I felt that I should mention it.**

**ALSO, I did do research into the idea of Chakras and spiritual energy, but if I made a mistake, or if I came off as pretentious or as though I was appropriating another culture/religion PLEASE CALL ME OUT ON IT. PLEASE. FEEL FREE TO BARGE INTO MY INBOX AND SCOLD ME FOR BEING RUDE AND ALSO PLEASE CORRECT ME.**

**Thank you. I own nothing except Thalia.**

**Pity Party**

After my breakdown, after they left, I wondered if I should have exploded that way. How long had I felt that way? How long had I been hoarding those emotions and that pain? Far too long, apparently. What a graceless way to reveal them. No finesse, no charm. Ciel treated me with wariness, and Sebastian with a sad sort of resignation. Both now seemed to think I was made of glass and would shatter if they pressed too hard.

Now that I'd lost the shield I'd built around myself, maybe I was. My body felt as tender as a wound, and I ached inside.

"Do they feel any better?" I looked up at Ciel curiously. He was staring at my wings as Sebastian tended to the bandages.

They fluttered involuntarily, as they often did whenever someone talked about them and I was forced to remember their presence, something I tried not to do very often. "They do," I replied. "But not as much as they did before."

"Good, although I suppose you are in no shape to come with us this time," he sighed, and I tried not to react to the words. Sebastian must have felt the way my shoulders tensed, but he made no indication that he had. "At least until you heal, and we learn how to conceal them," Ciel rose to his feet, and there he seemed to hesitate. As usual, at the end of his visit he searched my eyes for something that he couldn't find, before nodding to Sebastian and leaving.

The demon pressed a kiss to the nape of my neck, his fingers working tenderly over the bandages. "These should heal over in a week," he spoke against the skin as he finished replacing the gauze. "Though you might feel sore after, and it will take more time for you to be fully healed."

I opened my mouth to tell him I loved him, because I had never said it before, and I wanted to now. Then I remembered what the angel had said, and all of a sudden the gentle touches felt like pity instead of love. _That's right_, I remembered. I was weak, I didn't deserve to be his Mate now. The Thalia before had been replaced with _this_. What I was now didn't deserve him.

Now I felt like crying, but I choked on the tears and held them down where they stung like a knife to my throat. Sebastian rose to his feet, and bent to kiss my cold lips. "I will see what I can learn about concealing your wings. In the meantime, do try to rest."

I nodded silently and he left. Once the door had shut, I flexed them, wincing at the pull on the inflamed skin. They spread, wide and seraphic and beautiful.

Then I carefully folded them closer, concealing them perfectly until they could not be seen.

oOo

A week passed. I confined myself to the small room, never leaving the four walls. Mey-Rin and Bard left food outside the door, and sometimes talked to me through the wood. Finny left sweets and small presents when he could – ribbons for my hair, a small blue notebook, and a small plastic ring that I wore my right middle finger. They were such sweethearts.

Pluto whined below the window for the first three days, until I was forced to unlock the glass and stretch my hands out to pet his snout and scratch his ears. He sniffed at my hands, panting euphorically, and I cracked a tiny smile. Morgan and Minthe slunk into the room at strange times and curled up in my lap, mewing for attention. They gave me something to think about at those times.

Yet, I still couldn't relax, or fully bring myself to be happy. For the first time in a very long while, I didn't know about the mission. I only knew the barest minimum: they were at a school – some old English affair, red brick and full of rich little boys – and someone must have died or something equally as tragic if the queen had called on Ciel.

Another week passed. My back had healed over almost perfectly. The wings no longer pulled at the skin when I stretched them. I stopped wearing the bandages, leaving the scar tissue to dry and crack off on its own. I bathed it with strips of cloth soaked in alcohol, and lay on my sides. I read the books that had been left behind for me, and the morning paper that Pluto now brought to me in Ciel's absence.

I missed Sebastian terribly. More than I thought I would. Somehow knowing that I'd had all those chances, all those stupid chances, all that time to let him know how I felt, and now I couldn't. I'd had the time, the courage – it wasn't like I was afraid to – and I'd put it off so often because I assumed that I'd be always be able to tell him at some point. I'd put it off so often, like an idiot, like a stupid, brainless idiot, and now I couldn't.

Sometimes thinking of that made me curl up in a neat little ball in the centre of my bed and cry. I'd learned that the wings could fold over my body like a cocoon, act as something to hide behind when they were only reminders of why I felt like hiding in the first place.

At other times, whenever I just felt numb, I would cut bits from the newspapers and paste them into the empty notebook. Things I liked, or felt I liked. _I like cakes, don't I?_ I'd think, carefully cutting out the sepia-toned cake from an advertisement for a patisserie. Dresses, books, a puppy, a cat, I cut them from the thin paper and glued them into the book with meticulous care. It gave me something to think about.

Sometimes I cut my fingers on accident, and sometimes they weren't quite accidents.

I started sleepwalking again, something I only do whenever I was agitated. I know this because I awoke night on the balcony, wings outstretched as though hoping to force my body into flight before I was aware. The next day, I asked Mey-Rin to lock my door from outside every night, until I begged otherwise.

I found a ball of yarn tucked away in a drawer, resting on a book of domestic chores and hobbies for respectable women and housewives. I picked up knitting, sticking first to the garter stitch, then the stockinette, ribbed, and daisy. The steady _clack-clack-clack_ of the needles felt fixed and robotic, but it gave my fingers something to do, and my eyes something to focus on. In a few days I couldn't feel anything through the calluses on my right pointer finger.

It was sometime during the third week that something happened: Prince Soma and Agni arrived. I only know this because I heard the crunch of carriage wheels on gravel, and looked out the window. I wondered if they knew Ciel wasn't around. They did, according to Mey-Rin when she came to tell me an hour later. In fact, Ciel had asked for Soma's help.

She'd told them that I was sick, too sick to meet them. That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. Honestly, I don't believe that any answer she'd given would have turned them away, but not even a few minutes later, Soma burst into the room and flew to my bedside with all the care and grace of a pigeon smacking against a glass window.

"Thalia, are you alright?" He clasped my right hand in both of his own, and looked me over worriedly. "I was told that you were sick! I had Agni bring along several healing herbs that should aid you in your healing!"

The _khansama_ by the door bowed, holding a basin of what was probably hot water. Over one arm hung a small towel, and in the other rested small bags of what I assumed were the herbs. "If you would permit me, I will do what I can."

I blinked up at both of them, and I didn't know what to tell them. My wound had healed over by then, and I wasn't sick. Not even in the slightest. I shrugged, instead, and watched Agni place the bowl down on the table and sprinkle several leaves into it. I caught hints of chamomile and peppermint, but those were the only ones I could recognise.

While he prepared the aromatic hot compress, Soma suddenly cupped my cheek and turned my head to face him. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his eyes searched mine the way Ciel's had. I wanted to recoil back, sink into myself and tell them to leave.

"What are you looking at?" I asked with no emotion.

He blinked, as though he hadn't noticed what he was doing, but he didn't take his hands off my cheeks. "I was...Thalia, what happened to you?"

Touchy question. "It is none of your business," I replied with even less inflection that before.

"She has been touched by एक परी" Agni dropped the cloth into the water, let it soak, and wrung it out. "An angel." I jerked, whether from the words, or the warmth being pressed between my shoulder blades. It soaked through my dress, right over where the scars were.

Soma's eyed widened, and he stared at me in shock. "An angel?" He repeated in shock. "That's..."

My eyes narrowed, and I twisted my head to stare at Agni. "How did you know?" I asked him, maybe more coldly than I'd planned.

His hands were gentler than Sebastian's. They were less firm than what I wanted, but not bad. "Your aura is different from what I am used to. It feels...corrupted." I tensed. "Like it was ripped apart and someone tried to sow it back together with the wrong parts." Shut up. _Shut up!_ "Ah, but it's not as bad as it could have been, as far as I can see!" He hastened to add, probably sensing that he had hurt me.

I grunted quietly, and stared at the bedcovers. "So?" I finally asked. "What does Ciel need your help with exactly?" Had something happened in the case?

Soma cradled his chin in his hands. "He didn't say," he told me. "All he said was that he needed me to transfer into the school as soon as possible. He even sent me a prospectus," he produced a thin booklet from somewhere on his person.

"May I see that?" I stared at the front page. _Weston College, _printed in bold, shiny gold letters. Even the name seemed imperious. It was located near the river Thames, a large imposing building that closed itself off from the world, and tolerated nothing, not even government intervention. There young men were raised in an environment that allowed little in terms of societal freedom, and moulded to become fine gentlemen of England.

Or so I gathered from the booklet.

The fees were ridiculous, a number I could hardly even begin to consider earning even in two lifetimes. I glossed over the numbers and shifted to the houses. There were four, each run by a Prefect, and each seemed to cater to a particular brand of student from what I could see in the pictures.

The Scarlet Fox, for those of especially noble birth. Sapphire Owl, where those whose strengths lay in books and studying went. Green Lion, which seemed to be full of physically strong individuals. Finally, Violet Wolf. The people in the picture looked strange, with coloured hair and painted faces. I could only assume those in that house were artists in their own right.

I stared at the booklet, and then at Soma, and then back at the booklet. If Ciel wanted Soma to be present, the house that would take him would have to be Scarlet Fox. An Indian prince? Someone of noble birth, royalty in fact? They'd have to be fools to turn him away.

So, Scarlet Fox. Ciel needed something done in that house. Something he couldn't have Sebastian do – like stealing something from someone – and something he couldn't do himself because he was in a different house, and yet it was something Soma could do. Whatever it was, it had to be something innocent enough that Soma wouldn't bat an eye when he was asked.

Information? That seemed to be the most likely answer. Ciel needed information that only someone in the red house could give him, and Soma was (unknowingly) going to be his eyes and ears within those halls.

"Prince Soma?" I blinked and stared at Agni. He had been extremely quiet for quite a while, but now he was smiling at Soma. He bowed. "By your permission, I would like to speak with Miss Thalia."

"Eh?" Soma looked as confused as I felt, but he nodded his assent and rose to his feet. "Very well then, I will give you privacy. Treat her with respect though, Agni," he said with mock sternness as he opened the door. "After all, Thalia belongs to Ciel's _khansama_."

Agni bowed again, smiling as well. "Of course," he replied. The door shut, and I immediately felt hands on my shoulders. _What are you doing?_ "You seem distressed," he sounded worried. "May I...?"

I had no idea what he planned to do, but I trusted Agni. Agni was a good person, and I hadn't been around a lot of genuinely good people lately. Two fingers rested at the base of my spine. "_Muladhara_," he said. "Something has made you afraid, made you withdraw into yourself." His fingers moved higher. "_Svadhisthana__. _You feel as though you no longer matter to anyone."

Higher, higher, he kept going. _Manipura. Anahata. Vishudda._ With every shift, I felt more and more like I was being rubbed raw. I didn't realise I was crying until he touched the crown of my head.

_Sahaswara._ "You must open these again, or you will never be happy. And," Agni took his hand away from my forehead, only to brush his fingers below my eyes. "If necessary, you must cry."

So I did. I sobbed like a child, and he held me through it. I cried, fat, salty tears, and unintelligible words. I cried for a mother I had never met, and one I would never see again. I cried for the pain I'd had to go through. I cried for every scar on my body, and every bit of blood I'd ever spilled. I cried until my voice ran out, and my mouth tasted like salt and dirt.

"There," Agni spoke against my hair. My eyes were bleary, red and swollen. I wanted to sleep and never wake up. "Now sleep, Miss Thalia." I was lowered until my head touched the pillow, and I remember nothing else.

**God this chapter was shorter than I would have liked. It was to be longer, but I decided to keep the rest for the next chapter, because it just seemed more fitting.**

**Please read and review!**


	55. Brave

**I own absolutely nothing other than Thalia and what happens to her.**

**Brave**

Agni and Soma had left by the time I woke up. They had only stayed for a one night after all, but I'm glad that they did. I think I was glad that morning as well when I finally woke up. My eyelids were crusted over with salt and dust, and peeling them open hurt. I don't know that I felt better though. Tired mostly.

It was still early though, and I'm not sure what woke me up exactly. I touched the glass and left blurred fingerprints in the condensation. It was cold out there, I could tell. Winter was drawing near. The last warm days of the year were coming to an end. I felt a flicker of revulsion somewhere in my chest. I stared out the window. The sky was still dark, just the faintest hint of the dawn breaking over the treetops. There was a bathrobe draped over the chair. It had been left there by Sebastian, though I'm not sure who it actually belonged to. It was too big to be Ciel's, and I was certain it didn't belong to Sebastian himself. Maybe it belonged to Bard, or Tanaka.

The early hours meant that no one would be awake, not even Pluto. I pushed the door of my room open bit by bit, marveling at how the hinges didn't make a single creak even though the hinges did not look oiled. One foot, then another in front of it. Where the door didn't creak, the floorboards did, or maybe that was just my imagination straining to fill the sleepy emptiness of the house with noise.

My foot brushed against something, and I jumped back. Minthe gazed up at me out of faintly glowing eyes, green foxfire in the morning shadows. She mewed, and I put a finger to my lips to hush her. Her response was a compliant, but disdainful look – like a teenager scornfully and silently berating their parents – and then disappeared into my room through the still open door.

A gust of brisk, cold wind hit my face when I pushed the hatch open. I hadn't been up here in a while, I thought to myself. The roof slanted more than I thought it did, and the shingles were slippery from the morning's dew. There were creepers and moss growing in the cracks and spaces between the shingles, and they made the tipped surface even more slippery than it already was.

My feet found purchase eventually, and after a bit of staggering I finally managed to find a stable enough footing. I straightened slowly, hands outstretched to my sides in case I slipped, and took in the view.

Late summer and the beginning of autumn, the sky had painted itself pink and gold and red. The sun glowed in the distance, peaking over the distant horizon, a thin, bright swatch of colour that you couldn't look directly at. I blinked the glimmer in my eyes away, and slowly made my way to the edge. I could see Pluto sleeping below my bedroom window, as he always did. Sebastian hadn't minded so much, since it kept him away from the front porch.

Wet grass and trees with succulent, verdant leaves surrounded the manor. They would soon turn brown with age, lose their youth and colour, and have to be swept away and burned to be of any use.

I closed my eyes and carefully unfolded my wings from whatever secret place they stayed. I forgot to account for the sudden increase of surface area, and found myself being blown backwards, as though I was about to become a kite without a string or a master to control it's movement. I quickly folded them inwards, downwards, and regained my footing before I could topple off.

My heart pounded, loud and panicked. I was deathly afraid of heights if you recall, and yet I also felt numb. Watching myself rather than in total control. As though, as I neared the edge of the roof, my body put itself on autopilot, my consciousness content to watch the events born of the act of sheer stupidity that would transpire.

It _was_ stupid, and I would forever be the first to say it. Instead of practicing the safer method of taking off from the ground, I had chosen this, and I would always look back on this moment and wonder if I was feeling just a _tad_ bit suicidal. Then I would choose not to answer, because the answer seemed fairly obvious. There were, after all, only a number of ways this could go.

I didn't think of any of this however. Not when I reached the very edge, not when I turned my back to the sky and unfolded the wings, and not when I took a step back into nothingness.

My stomach turned as gravity did it's work. Maybe the manor was taller than I'd thought, or maybe the feathers slowed me down, but I do know that I had been falling in silence for an indeterminable amount of time before I remembered that I had to move them, I had to flap. So I did. I flexed muscles I didn't know I had, for wings that both spanned from back to tip, and suddenly I was higher.

I flapped again, and the wind caught the feathers like it catches the sails of a boat. Higher, higher, I couldn't really control the direction I spun in, but I didn't care. I didn't care! I was flying, I was actually flying!

Pluto stirred below me, probably startled by the irregular and loud wing beats, and barked up at me. I laughed, and it sounded hysterical, happy, tasted like citrus and cream, sharp and sweet. One beat, two, I angled myself just so and found that it was easier to follow the wind, let it carry me up and down and send me flying this way and that. Still a kite, still no string or master, but I found that I didn't mind.

Three beats, four, I was still afraid of being so high, but that was tempered by the euphoria. A particularly strong gale sent me rolling forward, made me stumble in mid-air like a paper bag that had been yanked up by some unseen hand, and I giggled to myself. No wonder people linked flying to freedom. In the air, there were no rules I had to follow, no one I had to defer to. The possibilities were endless.

_I could leave the mansion! No one would know!_ The thought made me laugh harder, so hard that I didn't notice the bunch of trees in front of me until I collided with them and found myself tangled in the tops of leafy branches that had been thick enough to provide a safe enough cushion. My back hurt, my palms and legs burned from scrapes and scratches. My face stung from the collision, and I was breathing harder than expected. I could hear Pluto barking in the distance, getting progressively closer as he investigated the cause of the strange sounds.

I laughed. I laughed until there were tears pouring from my eyes, until my body was wracked with spasms and I couldn't stop. I sat at the top of the tree, like some strange bird with too clumsy wings, and joined in the morning chorus.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Another two weeks passed before I went outside again. Before I _volunteered _to go outside again, and this was to watch the cricket game that would be held at the school. The other servants were surprised when I told them I would be coming, but then they smiled and looked relieved and excited. Maybe they figured I was recovering. Maybe they were right.

I had new bruises and scratches that could be hidden under the dark red dress I'd chosen to wear, all apart from an obvious one on my left cheek. Mey-Rin offered to hide it with powder, but I declined her offer.

As I dressed, I studied myself in the mirror. Thin, but not unhealthy. Not at all buxom, but I was slender. An average bust. Hard, callused hands – one more than the other – scars on my legs and arms, and now my face. I had always tried to avoid that, but that was just human vanity. I turned around to do up the back, and caught sight of the gashes on my bag. Raised skin, red-black scabs that I had periodically reached back to scratch and peel off until they started to bleed again, and the pain made me stop. The more I did that, the higher the chances were of a permanent scar.

I twisted my arm back, and my neck, and scraped my fingers over the healing wounds. I pulled the dress up and quickly did up the buttons. I pulled on black gloves to hide the calluses, and boots to hide my feet.

Snake was to stay back and mind the house, for two reasons. One, as much as he would have liked to attend, he was uncomfortable around other people. Two, he would have insisted on bringing at least one snake, something that would draw far too much attention, and have unforeseen consequences.

It was sunny out, although that didn't do much to alleviate the mild chill of the time. Mid-September, the last warm days of the year before the true cold of autumn and winter settled in. I could see hints of them already, in the thin knitted gloves I saw women wearing, in the jackets and coats with just the barest addition of extra layers.

Ciel looked surprised to see me when we arrived. Maybe he figured I'd still be at home and sad, or maybe it was because I hadn't told him I knew how to hide my wings. The left corner of my lips drew up into a smile as I stared at him from beneath the shade of the white parasol I held, something I'd dug up from the box of Madame Red's clothes. "Good day, young master," I greeted him cordially, blinking innocently. "How is school treating you?"

He recovered quickly enough. "Well enough," he replied curtly. "I take it you've recovered?"

"Well enough," I parroted back with the same smile. My eyes slid over to the boy standing next to Ciel. Small, brown haired, mousy. Freckled, thick glasses. Not much to look at, but certainly cute and earnest enough. "I shall rejoin the others," I curtsied and tipped my head at him. "Good luck."

If I told you I cared about the slow workings of the game being played, I would be lying. I perked up in the beginning once the announcer said that Soma's team would be batting against Ciel's, but once it became clear that the blue team posed no actual threat, the game became boring, and I soon grew tired of pretending to call out encouragements to either.

"Thalia, why aren't you cheering?!" Mey-Rin grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "It doesn't matter if our team sucks, we still have to encourage the young master's team, we do!"

_Annoying. _"Our team is clearly terrible," I propped the parasol behind me, aware of the fact that it wasn't proper for a servant to carry a parasol while a member of nobility had none, but Lady Elizabeth's comfort had nothing to do with mine. "I will not cheer until I have a reason to."

Lady Elizabeth pouted at me from her seat underneath the set umbrella and table that had been provided for her by the school. "But we have to encourage Ciel!"

"True, but Ciel isn't playing," I replied succinctly, turning to stare at her. "So cheer if you'd like, young mistress. I certainly won't stop you."

She flinched as though I'd said something harsh, which I didn't think I had, and turned back to the game. I ignored the looks being sent my way from the others, and focused on trying to pick Sebastian out from the crowd of teachers and faculty members. I half listened to Bard's attempt to explain cricket to Mey-Rin and Finny, but had to look over when he produced a picnic basket and flipped it open to reveal a mess of fish, beef and pastry that he (lovingly) referred to as a _meat pie._

I stared at it silently, and glanced at Lady Elizabeth. _If she dies of food poisoning, it would look bad on Ciel._ If only Sebastian were here to slap him upside the head and replace it with something else. My eyes wandered back to the field, and I caught sight of a figure behind the stands. Of course, the distance and obstruction didn't allow me to see much detail, so I couldn't be sure.'

There was a roar from the red team crowd as their second batter performed. He had long blonde hair, and his mannerisms and tone struck me as somewhat familiar.

"_Ah, he really is my nephew~!_"

Oh, never mind then.

The match went on. It was clear that the blue team was awful. Smart, intelligent in things theoretical and book-related, but terrible at anything that may require actual physical strength and dexterity.

There was a bit of commotion coming from a gap in the stands, and I stood up to go investigate. Lau – unexpected – was running a betting stand – highly expected – on who would be the day's victor. The majority of the bets, I saw, were for the red team. An obvious choice, to be sure, if the game continued the way it was.

_Interesting,_ I fingered my purse thoughtfully as I made my way towards the caravan.

Tanaka spotted me as I was walking back, flipping the card between my fingers. "I didn't take you for a betting woman," he commented as I fell in step beside him. "You always seemed like the type to play it safe when it comes to games of chance."

I grinned and linked my free arm with his. He patted my elbow, like a loving grandfather might do to a favoured grandchild. "I'm not," I replied as I placed the blue card into my bodice. "And I am."

He chuckled and gave my arm another companionable pat, and smiled slyly. "Miss Thalia, I wonder if you might be aware of what happened to the meal sir Bardroy prepared for the outing...?"

I thought of the mess I'd dumped in a pile in a corner of the field, and the upturned picnic basket beside it. "I assure you, I have no idea _what_ you're talking about." Our eyes met, and we snickered quietly. I wondered why I'd never spent much time around Tanaka, barring the time he had tried to teach me _baritsu_ and ended up throwing me on my ass far too many times. My pride wounded, I had given up after two lessons, something I wasn't particularly proud of even now.

A whistle went off, announcing the end of the snack break for the teams, and the beginning of – what was it called? The second inning? That. Tanaka and I continued our leisurely stroll, but paused after a loud commotion outcry was heard from the field. "Something must have happened," I commented. He hummed in agreement, and neither of us was surprised when the announcement was made that the red house had forfeited the game, making the winners the blue house.

It was nearing lunchtime now. Bard would have been preparing to dish that disgusting slop. He would be disappointed, but as I said, I would rather be hungry than dead. "Oh, _Professor _Michaelis." I jerked at the name, and stared at the figure approaching us. Sebastian, clad in a severe black uniform, with blue lapels, and a familiar pair of glasses. Hanging from his arm was a brown picnic basket.

He looked surprised to see us, surprised to see _me_, but smirked and held it out to us_._ "What perfect timing," he said. "Take this for lunch."

A minced beef pie, still warm. It smelled delicious, although I was sure Sebastian hadn't been the one to make it. "Thank you," Tanaka unhooked our arms to accept the basket. "But, may I ask to be sure?" He gave Sebastian a sly grin, as though they were sharing a joke. "This pie won't make me _sick_ now, will it?"

Sebastian giggled, and the sound wormed its way into my chest. "Of course."

The old butler nodded, and winked at us. "Then I look forward to the next Blue Miracle," he called over his shoulder as he walked away. I stared at his retreating figure, and then at Sebastian. Shy, then brave, then shy again. It was such a stupid cycle of emotions. Actions could be carried out, regardless of feelings, and they couldn't be taken back. Shy as I was now, I could still act like I was brave.

I reached up with my gloved and trembling hands, and cupped his cheek. His own reached up and caught it, pulling it from his face so he could pull the thin glove off my fingers with his teeth, and kiss the hard and coarse skin of my palms, the joints of my fingers, my knuckles, all the time his eyes never strayed from mine.

He kissed me on the forehead, so I lifted my head and kissed him on the jaw. "My god Sebastian," I muttered. "Don't poison the goddamn children."

Warm air puffed across my ear as he laughed and pulled my body flush against his own, moulding us together and enveloping me in. He smelled like heat and spice, and everything I loved and wanted. "I have missed you."

**LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**It has come to my attention, having been pointed out to me by a few lovely readers, that Thalia may be a Mary Sue. I went over my story (and did several Mary Sue tests) and yes, she does exhibit Mary Sue tendencies, such as her knife throwing skills, the idea of Sebastian being attracted to her after like ten seconds, Ciel...not minding her presence after only a day or so of meeting her...**

**I'M SORRY, WHEN I STARTED THIS I WAS JUST A CHILD WITH A WILD UNFETTERED CRUSH ON SEBASTIAN AND I NEEDED AN OUTLET PLEASE DO NOT HOLD THIS AGAINST ME.**

**In the beginning Thalia was basically me. At this point however, the only trait we share is her ridiculous propensity for sarcasm. I've been working on her character and my writing, and I hope my writing is actually getting better. Please if you have any criticism, please feel free to tell me. Flames, as long as they actually have useful advice in them, will also be accepted.**

**Thank you**


	56. A Blue Miracle

**After so long, I finally managed to do this chapter! Next I shall struggle to do my other stories. **

**In other news, HOLY FUCK I HAVE 1000+ REVIEWS IS THIS REAL LIFE? THANK YOU SO MUCH! Special wave to Esmereilda, who had reviewed almost every chapter. I own nothing except Thalia!**

**A Blue Miracle**

Sebastian held me until I lifted my head and blinked at him. "Don't you have something you're supposed to be doing right now?" I asked.

"I suppose so," he replied easily, but he didn't move. If anything, the arms around my waist tightened even more, and drew me even closer. He turned suddenly, pressing me into the wall behind us, his robes providing cover and making me even more aware of him.

"Sebastian-!"

"It has occurred to me," he cut me off. "That I have not been taking proper care of you." I looked up and he was frowning. One hand moved up my back, tracing the bumps of the scars under my clothes. The skin there was new, and sensitive, and I arched against him at the feeling. In response, he stepped closer so I could hardly move.

A semblance of old pride stirred in my chest, and I scowled at him. _I can take care of myself,_ was what I wanted to say, but that would be a blatant lie. Instead, I huffed. "It's not like it was your fault."

"Still..." the hand on my back moved higher up, until it brushed the back of my neck. "As your Mate..." I gasped and grasped his shoulders beneath the robes. Beneath the dress, I felt my nipples tighten and perk up as though hoping for attention. My face flamed red as Sebastian leaned closer, bypassing my lips and nosing the skin beneath my left ear. "I should pay far more attention to you."

He licked, and I breathed out a moan. He slid his fingers into my hair and pulled my head to the side, baring my neck. I was completely aware that it was broad daylight, and we were in the open. Anyone could come by and see us! I tried to vocalise my worry, but the hand on my back slid dangerously low, and any semblance of speech I'd had immediately disappeared.

Warm fingers traced my parted lips, and he leaned in close enough that our noses brushed. I could feel the cooling patches on my neck where his lips had been. "Shall I kiss you?" He asked me with a smirk.

My eyes widened in mortification, did he really expect me to answer? He chuckled at my expression, and kissed me quickly but roughly. The kind of kiss that stunned me down to my toes, and then he retreated, allowing the daylight back in. I blinked several times to let my eyes adjust, and then clapped my hands over my mouth when what we'd done fully hit me.

"Goodbye, darling." Then he was gone, and I was standing alone with swollen lips, shaking legs, and a jumble of emotions I hadn't felt in a while. I grinned widely beneath the hand over my mouth, so wide that my eyes squeezed shut in happiness, and giggled stupidly.

By the time I finally managed to compose myself and stumble back to the picnic area, the large red-and-white checked blanket had already been spread on the grass, and the food had been set out. Soma had come to join us, apparently being the only member of his house that hadn't caught whatever 'mysterious' food bug everyone else had.

Lau had also taken a break from extorting money out of rich people, and he and Ran-Mao were helping themselves to the sandwiches and tea. "Mm, this is delicious!" Elizabeth complimented over her slice of sponge. "As expected of you Bard!"

"Where did his pie go?" Finny whispered as I sat down and grabbed a sandwich from the plate.

"I don't know, but we should be glad," Mey-Rin replied. "Thalia, where did you go? You were gone for a while! You missed out on something amazing!" I let her chatter about the red team's sudden troubles, and the blue team winning by forfeit, while I scanned the field for either Sebastian or Ciel.

I spotted Sebastian standing on the terrace above the proceedings. I wondered if he could see me. I flushed at the thought, and quickly looked away. "By the way, is your stomach okay Prince?" Lau asked.

The kid – what was his name? I don't know, he still wasn't important – turned to Soma worriedly. "It seems the Red Eleven's stomach pains were caused by the food served at teatime!"

Soma grinned widely, smugness radiating off him. "I have the great goddess of health, Shiva's protection on my side, so I'm fine!"

That sounded incredibly useful, I agreed with Lau. A loud cheer rose up from the field where Green Lion and Violet Wolf were playing. From the initial stuttered, and then sharply rising crescendo of the sound, something surprising must have occurred. I ate another sandwich and flicked the crumbs from the corners of my lips and my bodice onto my skirt.

Mey-Rin happened to glance at me at that moment. "Thalia, where is your glove? Did you lose it?" My right glove was gone, which looked a bit awkward. I had forgotten to ask Sebastian for it back. It was probably tucked away in his pocket or something.

It's not like that was my fault by the way. It is very difficult to ask someone for something when they have their tongue down your throat. "No," I replied, and then pretended to choke to disguise how red my face was.

We finished lunch, dusting off the blanket and our clothes, and then settled down for the final match between Green Lion and Sapphire Owl. "It's like adults versus children," Lord and Lady Midford chuckled behind to each other. "I wonder if it'll be much of a match?"

"CIEL! DO YOUR BEST!" Elizabeth cheered loudly, and I patted the blue card hidden beneath my clothes; three times for good luck. It wouldn't do to daydream through this match, I decided. It seemed like it would be far more intense than the last few plays.

Sapphire Owl was first up to bat, and I noticed Sebastian standing in front of a small orchestra on the blue team's side of the field. He spoke to the students, raised his hands, and tapped the baton against the stand. A jaunty tune rose into the air, the sort of tune you couldn't help bobbing your head or tapping your feet to. Instruments, an assortment of violins, cymbals, trumpets and trombones, all rose together in perfect harmony.

The Green Lion pitcher pulled his arm back and threw the ball with impressive speed, but just as the music itself pitched higher, the Sapphire Owl batter screwed his eyes shut and managed to hit the cricket ball.

_He hit it?!_ The roar of the crowd was a mix of complete disbelief and excitement. "Don't worry, they just got lucky!" Someone yelled, and yet it kept happening. Over, and over, and over again. _How is this working? They were terrible before and now...?_ I glanced over at the orchestra, and then back at the batter. _Wait, are they...using signals?_

I wouldn't put it past Ciel to cheat. In fact, I'd be suspicious and mildly disappointed if he didn't at least find some way to circumvent the rules of any game to make them work in his favour. Something in that song was a signal for the batter to swing. It was no different to cheating at a game of cards by having someone walk around the table and send you casual signals so you knew who had what cards.

Not that I knew anything about that, of course.

_Hm?_ It seemed Edward had caught on. Sapphire Owl had gathered 40 points by the time the pitcher finally retired, and was replaced by the Midford. He looks upset, as one naturally would be after being duped in such a manner. "I won't let you get away with that!"

The ball left his fingers, spinning wildly. It hit the ground but, instead of bouncing back up, it ricocheted off the ground and shot forward, knocking over the wickets. "Bowled!" _Oh my, haven't I seen that move before though?_ It was the same move as the Violet Wolf's pitcher, Finny explained to me, known as a 'purple burnout'.

"Hey, look!" I heard someone shout. "It's the principal!" I turned to glance in the direction that everyone was looking, and found nothing of particular interest. However, when I turned back, Sebastian was gone and in his place was that kid. _What the-?_

I scowled and leaned back. With Sebastian gone, they weren't likely to hit anything. I trusted that Ciel had a plan though, I just hoped it worked. I had money riding on the outcome of this game. I didn't need money though. Maybe I was regressing...

The first set ended, and then it was Green Lion's turn to bat, and Sapphire's turn to pitch. As expected, the toss was weak, shabby even, almost embarrassing to watch. A child could have hit it with their eyes shut, and yet...

_Bowled!_

He missed it. Actually, _missed _might be the wrong word. No, what happened was that the batter _froze_ a split second before the ball was to hit the bat, and let it sail past him into the hands of a blue team player.

_It was just a fluke!_ Claimed the audience, and yet, like the last time, it happened again, and again, and once even Edward Midford managed to narrowly miss a toss, the crowd grew annoyed and began to grumble. _What the hell? What's distracting them so mu-? Oh my god._

You see, naturally most boys between the ages of 13 to 18 are curious about sex in some way, and these boys will almost _always_ lose themselves when in the presence of an attractive specimen of the fairer sex. Now, for boys who have pretty much been sheltered in a medieval boarding school where they don't see any girls whatsoever, that curiousity makes them really susceptible to anything wearing a skirt and lipstick.

Especially if that 'thing' is a bunch of beautiful, leggy, half-naked Chinese female prostitutes who have absolutely no shame in showing everything off.

This tactic did have a bit of an advantage over the first, in that no one could prove that Ciel or the Sapphire Owl dormitory was the one who orchestrated this random appearance of females. However, I didn't see this tactic working for long though. Eventually the referees came over and asked them to leave as they looked too lecherous, and were probably tainting the pure and delicate eyes of the Englishmen and women present, and no amount of broken English would help their case.

It worked well enough for the time it was allowed to however, so blue house was still in the lead with about 8 points.

The next set began, the grumbles of the audience lessening but not quite disappearing. The blue house batter stepped up to the plate and adopted a rather unorthodox stance. "Hey, hold the bat properly please!" The referee scolded, but it appeared that his posture wasn't against the rules. Unconventional, to be sure, but not rule-breaking, and I could respect that.

After all, the only thing that matters in life most times is that you win, and if you can win by your own power then that was even better. Innovative; whatever deity presided over us was right to throw Ciel into that house. Were the school a little solitary, a little less fixed in its ways, and Ciel's life a little more normal, he could have thrived there.

Oh well. Green Lion stepped up to the plate, drew back his arm. Sapphire Owl began to twist the bat into the dirt, left, right, left, slowly picking up speed. The ball flew forward and

_Thwack!_

It hit the ground, smacked into the surface of the bat, and shot between two fielders who fell over themselves trying to catch it. Two runs, three runs, the blue house slowly drew points by repeating this method, holding the bat to prevent the ball from hitting the wickets.

_105 to 52, _that was quite a difference in points. I stuck my hand into the wicker basket and plucked out one of the leftover sandwiches. _Ew, egg_, I stuck my other hand in and pulled out a chicken. Much better.

"Thalia, you're acting strange, you are," Mey-Rin whispered, sounding caught between reproach and worry.

"Sorry?" I replied slowly, wondering what I'd done wrong this time, and what I was going to do with the egg sandwich I didn't want. "What did I do?"

She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "Well, proper women don't eat with two hands," she explained quietly, pointing to my full hands. "It's bad manners, it is. Very rude."

"Oh," I replied, shifting both sandwiches to one hand. "I understand." Then I choked down the egg sandwich in one gulp as inconspicuously as I could, and took a dainty, delicate bite out of the other. "Better?"

She didn't look like it was, but she didn't say anything. "Oh look!" Lady Elizabeth chirped. "Ciel's bowling now!" The young master called something to the other members of the house, and they all suddenly gathered around the Green Lion batter. _What is he doing?_ The audience broke out in outcry, everyone seemed to be wondering what the blue house was thinking.

Ciel drew back his arm and threw the ball. It was a weak ball, hardly much of a threat, it would hit the ground before reaching the batter. However, the ball ricocheted off the ground and came up again with surprising force. Instinct forced him to lift the bat so the ball wouldn't hit him in the face.

It bounced off the bat, the ground, and into the hands of another blue house player. Since that ball was a dot – meaning it got no runs or outs – Ciel would have to repeat it again. He was forgiven, as the Sapphire Owl dorm wasn't known for having the best players, so this could be brushed off as an accident. However...

_Thwack!_

_Thwack!_

"Out!" Three duds, the batter was out. Of course this wasn't an accident. I lifted my fingers to cover my grin, and frowned when the crowd began to complain that they were breaking the rules. Cries of "_It's not cricket!_" rang from the stands, and I wondered how the upper class got anything done with their whole gentleman's pact.

"His horrible personality is showing," Bard muttered.

"_SHUT UP!"_ The grounds went silent. Greenhill stepped forwards, brows furrowed and face firm. "I won't have you booing during our match! And Phantomhive, unfair? Can you all see this?" He grabbed Ciel's smaller hand and held it up. It was covered in bruises, cuts and calluses, rawer than mine. You didn't get scars like that from being lazy and leaving the work to others.

That was something I admired about Ciel, that despite the power he held, he still knew that he too needed to work if his plans were to come to fruition.

Greenhill's speech was enough to beat back the angry complaints, and I smiled even as I sighed. The game continued, both houses playing in earnest. Ciel switched from aiming for the batter's face, to aiming just a little to the sides. The batters couldn't attack, or they risked being bowled out entirely.

This went on, the score at 105 to 91, until it was Edward's turn. He was the only one able to hit the ball, and with that Ciel was out. I could see Ciel smiling in spite of this, and I suppose it wasn't too farfetched to think that the young master was proud of his cousin's prowess.

The blue house prefect stepped up. "Leave this to me," he said. "The 8th rule of Weston High: students will apply themselves without neglecting their studies or training," he pulled his arm back as Ciel got into position. "That is why, this year, WE WILL WIN!"

He threw the ball. And it went up. And when I say up, I mean nearly vertical. Laughter exploded from the crowd as he turned away, as though embarrassed by his posturing after throwing such a wild ball.

Only for the wayward ball to come down again and smash the wickets to bits. No one had been watching the ball, had assumed that it could do no damage. Total silence enveloped the grounds, and it exploded with cheers. I leaped from my spot and cheered as well.

"This game is getting interesting," Lau commented as I settled down again. "Maid, have you any bets going?"

I smirked and patted my chest. "It's in bad taste for a maid to bet against her master." I faced the pitch as Greenhill stepped up to bat. Brains vs. Brawn, he took his place and blue house prepared to pitch once more. He threw, and once again the ball went up. Green Lion held the bat back, over his head. It came dangerously close to knocking Ciel out.

When the ball came down, he brought his arms up with incredible strength and smashed it straight across the field and into the stands. "BOUNDARY 6!"

The score was now 103 to 105, and I hissed. A score like that, and in the last inning too, blue house was walking on a thin line now. "Come on Ciel!" Elizabeth murmured, and then she began to agonise over whether she should be cheering for Ciel or her brother.

The prefect stepped up again, the same throw again. Greenhill flung the bat back as he had done before, and then there was a quiet _crack!_

"_Ciel!_"

The boy fell back, blood gushing from the gash in his forehead. He screamed in pain, clutching his face, and I would have run onto the field had Finny not grabbed me and held me back. Greenhill didn't run, not even when Ciel struggled up, dragged himself forward, and grabbed the fallen cricket ball.

He threw it weakly at the unguarded wickets. "Umpire!"

Once more, silence, and then the referee gritted his teeth. "Out!"

That was it, with a score of 104 to 105, the match was over, and Sapphire Owl had won. The grounds went wild as students ran onto the field and gathered around Ciel, throwing him up and down in joy, until Sebastian appeared and grabbed him.

"How rash. Your first priority should be getting medical aid."

I laughed and ran over, ignoring the other servants. Ciel smiled happily. "But I'm so happy we managed to win, that I can forget about the pain," he said. "Because we showed everyone that, if we try, we can do it."

I smiled and placed a hand on his head as he closed his eyes, and I spoke softly. "Bullshit."

Fifteen minutes later, Sebastian brought us to the school's infirmary, and was applying antiseptic to the gash on Ciel's forehead. "_Ow! Can't you be more gentle?_"

"I'm sorry," he smirked. "Weren't you so happy that you could forget the pain?"

"_As if!_"

"Then stop getting yourself hurt," I walked over and inspected the wound closely. It wasn't as bad as it seemed, since the head contained far more blood vessels than anywhere else in the body. "Sweet Christ Ciel, no offense," I bumped Sebastian out of the way with my hip and took the supplies from him.

He smiled and stepped back. "Of course. Everything went according to plan, it was splendid. However, you got a far nicer medal than expected."

"That damn Greenhill," Ciel hissed, yelping when I continued cleaning up the blood and dirt from the open wound.

"I'm curious about this _plan_," I replaced the cotton ball and dipped it into the antiseptic again. "What did you do?"

Sebastian fished about in his robes, and pulled out a cricket ball. It looked like an ordinary cricket ball, but when he handed it to me, it was just a bit lighter than an ordinary one. "It's just the weight that's different," he said.

"Bluer threw this ball the same way he threw the ordinary one," Ciel said. "The tiny difference in weight created a bigger difference in the ball's trajectory."

I pursed my lips together as I studied the ball, and then turned to Ciel. "So, you're telling me that, had Greenhill had missed, you would have been smashed on the head by a fucking cricket ball?"

"Thalia, language," Sebastian scolded lightly.

"Don't fucking _language _me!"

Ciel explained the theory behind the plan. Greenhill wouldn't miss the ball, as he was an experienced player he had unconsciously taken a step back to accommodate the ball's new trajectory, which was why he had hit Ciel. Bluer's no ball gained the other house a point, but Ciel had gone after the ball in spite of his injury and had gotten an out.

"Even so..." Ciel smirked as I handed the ball to him and went to search for some bandages on the table. "To throw a ball that you know is going to lose, I don't get them at all."

"I don't understand the human aesthetic of 'a beautiful loss' either," I heard Sebastian say.

I rolled my eyes and turned, having located the bandages. "That's hardly surprising-!" He was standing right in front of me, far too close for it to be casual. "Uh..."

The younger boy made a sound of disgust. "Really? Now?"

"My apologies," Sebastian stepped back and proceeded to wrap the bandages around Ciel's forehead while I curled my fingers into the fabric of my bodice. I felt something stiff and rectangular, and remembered the blue card.

Sebastian snipped the end of the bandage strip, and pinned it in place. "So," Ciel's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "How did it go for you?"

"Ah. The principal was..." the demon presented an outfit, complete with a top hat atop the folded clothes. "This." _What?_ "I'm very sorry. I chased him with all I had, but the moment I caught him he turned into this."

_Someone had escaped Sebastian?!_ You must remember, I was totally out of the loop for this mission. I had no idea what was going on, but for something to manage to escape from Sebastian was just... "Hmph," Ciel huffed. "Then you might as well have been making dessert."

"I thought you would say that," Sebastian smiled, and produced a covered tray out of thin air. "I prepared this for you: Eton mess with summer pudding and ice." _Holy shit that looks delicious._ Ciel and I were staring at the tray with wide eyes. "However, you'll have to eat it another time," he covered it up just as the door flew open and a crowd of Sapphire Owl boys poured in.

"PHANTOMHIVE~!" They cheered, and then stuttered when they saw me. Remember what I said about being incredibly sheltered? Yes.

"Be quiet in the infirmary," Sebastian scolded, and they apologised, before regaining their enthusiasm and fawning over Ciel. One of them jammed a large admiral's hat on Ciel's head, a blue one decorated with colourful flowers.

"For the boat parade!" A boy said. He grabbed Ciel's hand in both of his and tugged him off the bed. "Let's go! It's the victory boat parade!"

Ciel yelped, trying to match their excitement, as Sebastian and I watched in amusement. He looked down at me, and offered his hand in a gentlemanly manner, a knowing smile on his face. "Shall we, my lady?"

I blushed, and placed my smaller hand in his. Like before, he lifted my gloveless hand to his lips and kissed it, then placed it on his arm as he led me out of the room.


	57. Tea Party

**Hello! I'm having exams next week, so I might not be able to write, let alone update any of my stories. That said, I'm hoping to be able to update as many of them as possible this weekend! **

**I own nothing other than Thalia! Long chapter is long!  
**

**Tea Party**

Sebastian and I followed the group of boys just several feet behind them, half of me watching the casual way they crowded around Ciel, and the other far too concerned with the way it felt to be as close to Sebastian.

"They're going to wonder about this," I leaned closer to Sebastian, wondered if it would be to forward to grip his bicep with the hand of the arm he had hold of. "You're their teacher."

He chuckled. The glasses did something to his face, made him seem stricter, more controlled, yet somehow more seductively _knowing_. "They're too busy to be concerned about us," he replied, pulling me closer against him. I wanted to fall against him and wrap myself up in his arms, never feel cold again, and this was not the time or place to be having such wants.

I forced them down as best I could, and stared straight ahead. "True..." I sighed. "So what exactly is going on here? What great _mystery_ does the queen want uncovered at such a _prestigious_ school?"

"Simply that her nephew has gone missing," he replied casually, navigating us down the path and over cobblestones. "However finding out more has been difficult. The school seems to be wholly controlled by the Headmaster, and you saw how easy it was to get a hold of him." I thought of the clothes and nodded.

"So why all the song and dance just to win a cricket match?" I asked him, staring at the crowd of boys. I caught a one or two of them looking back at us, nudging Ciel. I flashed the earl a smile when he turned, and he scowled back before he was pulled back into the chatter. "Ciel's a competitive ass, but he'd never expend that much effort if it wasn't important."

Sebastian grinned widely. "Such language, my lady," he said smoothly. "And here I thought I could train it out of you. You are right, however." We were nearing the lake. I could see the crowds of people around the banks and on the bridge, jostling to get a good view. "The winning team will be invited to have tea with the Headmaster himself. The young master considers this to be the most opportune time to get close to him."

We drew to a stop by some tents that had been set up. There were more people around now, but that didn't stop Sebastian from sliding his hand down my arm, palm flat against the fabric and skin until he was holding my hand.

He bowed politely at the waist. "I must attend to the young master now. Good day, my lady," he lifted my hand up and kissed my knuckle. I watched him glide between the tents, before disappearing behind one. Then I sighed, a bit more longingly than I would have liked, and made my way towards the bank.

It took a while, and a whole lot of pushing, before I caught sight of Prince Soma's dark skin and richly coloured clothes. "There you are!" He grinned when I squeezed myself between the crowds to stand next to him. We had a clear view of the river from where we were, and I had made it just in time to see the Sapphire Dorm team line up clumsily along the bank so the crowd could applaud them once again. They were all clad in uniforms, and flower crowns, all except Ciel, whose suit looked like that of an admiral. His cap was covered in white and blue flowers, and he was holding a bouquet of matching flowers.

He was also shorter than everyone else, but that's beside the point.

"Ciel is shorter than I expected," Soma chuckled good-naturedly, and I smiled. It was early evening, and the sun was rapidly dropping behind the horizon, as it usually did this time of year. Elizabeth made a comment about how romantic this time of the day was, and I hummed in agreement, before the Green Lion captain barked out a command.

Dozens of lanterns lit up the lake, hovering up above the waters and rising above the heads of the people. The blue team climbed into their boat, rowing carefully across the water while Ciel sat at the head of the small boat. It was a gorgeous sight.

There was a sudden wave of excitement. _'It's the queen!'_ I looked up and caught sight of Her Royal Majesty high above the river, sat in a red and gold carriage. Ciel got up and faced her. He pulled a sword I didn't notice had come with the costume, and raised it. "Salute the Queen!"

The boys rose, though I noticed they stumbled in a way that didn't bode well, but still they managed to stand completely straight for a few seconds.

After which, every single one of them lost their balance on the swaying, bobbing boat, and pitched left and right into the lake in a flurry of flowers. There were cries of surprise, which quickly turned to laughter. Not the mocking kind, just sounds of genuine happiness. I clapped and cheered excitedly, grinning hard.

Fireworks shot into the air, lighting up the darkening sky. The boys were pulled out, sopping wet and shivering, but grinning elatedly. The throng of people began to move towards a massive picnic area that had been prepared. There were tables surrounded by tents filled with food and games, and lantern lights were strung overhead. People were milling about and talking.

I caught sight of the Queen's butlers while I was looking around, and couldn't resist walking over. I relished the obvious way the one with long hair jumped back when he saw me walking towards them. I didn't stop, simply made eye contact with him for a second, and picked up my pace once I'd passed them.

The other Charles had a chicken on his shoulder. Had he kept the chick from Easter? I definitely liked that Charles more than the other.

I found Ciel, Elizabeth, and Soma at one of the tables. Someone was playing music on the violin, and I looked over to see a boy from the Purple house playing a jaunty tune. Other instruments started in, and I suddenly felt like dancing along. Elizabeth dragged Ciel up, and Soma paired with Mey-Rin. Even the Marquis and Marchioness hooked their arms together and joined the fray.

I sat and watched them, feeling equal parts content and lonely, until a hand appeared in front of me. I followed the familiar glove-clad fingers up the arm, until I was staring into a pair of amused red eyes. "Shall we?"

The night was filled with music and revelry, and honestly one could have forgotten exactly what was going on. It was late before the servants finally piled back into the carriage, and returned home.

* * *

oOo

* * *

**No One's POV**

The excitement that had infused the Sapphire Owl students had settled to a warm contentment when they finally returned to their dorms later that night. Yawns and moans of those who were tired, or who had eaten too much filled the hallways and the rooms. Ciel was not exempt from that, and as much as he tried to return his thoughts to that of the case, he too was feeling the glow of obtaining victory over his peers warming him from the inside out.

He walked over to his bed, and blinked in surprise. There was something on the bed: a delicate white china teacup and saucer with scene of night-time painted on with midnight blue and gold. Beside the teacup, on the saucer, was a pure white plant that had yet to bloom. The whole thing was wrapped up in dark blue ribbon. "This is..."

There were gasps of shock, and then the boys crowded around him. "I don't believe it! Th-That's amazing!" Macmillan shook him by the shoulders until he was dizzy. "You've been invited to a midnight tea party!"

Ciel's eyes snapped wide open in realisation and he stared at the items on his bed, a half surprised, half confused smile on his face. _I did it! _He thought. _I finally acquired the right to see the principal!_

Honestly, after the events of the afternoon, when Sebastian hadn't even been able to corner the man, he'd thought he'd have had to come up with a whole new plan. However, this was highly fortunate. "They say that when the beautiful flower blooms at midnight, that's when they'll come for you," Macmillan told him. "So if you wear it on your chest, you'll be able to attend."

"Huh," he made a distracted sound of affirmation and picked up the package, just as the door of the room opened and Sebastian poked his head around to tell them it was time for their baths.

The demon had heard everything, and he stared at his master. Ciel nodded imperceptibly, and placed the things on his bedside table. _The whereabouts of the missing students...the principal's true colours...we'll unravel all of that at the tea party!_

The night of June 4th, and the boys of Weston High have settled down from the noise and excitement of the day. All the doors have been locked and bolted shut, and no one is allowed to go outside. Only a few select individuals are allowed to traverse those halls.

Just the ones attending the principal's midnight tea party.

Ciel sat up in bed the second he heard a soft knocking at the door of the room. The flower pinned to his uniform lapel had indeed bloomed the moment the clock had struck midnight. Clayton peered into the room, a lantern in one hand. "It's time," he said simply.

Both walked in silence, the older boy just a few feet ahead of Ciel. Down the stairs, through darkened corridors, and finally out of the Sapphire Owl dormitory building altogether. It was cold, but Ciel ignored the chill. There were far more important things to focus on.

It was quiet, so eerily quiet, the only sounds he could hear was what sounded like a squirrel in the bushes, and a large bird hunting. Clayton led him towards a small building that was normally used for church services. The wooden double doors swung open with a low moan. The prefects were already present. "Welcome, Phantomhive," Edgar said. "To the elegant..."

"Traditional..."

"High class..."

"Bizarre..."

"Midnight tea party!"

There was loud, slightly discordant sound from the organ piano, and Ciel flinched at the cacophonic notes, and spun to see Cheslock sitting at the pianist seat. As the note sounded, there was a rumble of stone shifting, and a panel moved to reveal a tunnel. There was a rush of trapped, warm air from within.

Ciel took the lantern offered to him, wary of the situation, but intensely curious as he stepped into the tunnel. There was a door at the other end made of wood, and it opened to an unexpected scene.

There was a garden, surrounded on each side by high stone walls. Creepers and bushes obscured most of the brick, hung in delicate arches where they had grown too tall and run out of stone to latch on to. The air smelled like flowers and sugar, but also strange and there was a hint of something sharp.

There was a table in the middle of the garden, set with things for a tea. There were cakes, and biscuits, and small sandwiches. There were nine chairs, not counting the one at one end of the table where the principal was sitting. The vice-principal stood beside him, hands folded behind his back. As unnerving as the vice-principal was, what with his inflectionless tone of voice and constant falling over, Ciel found himself even more discomfited by the silent man sitting there, hands folded together.

_That's Weston High's absolute ruler, the principal._

"Everyone, thank you for coming," the vice principal said. "Please sit down."

Ciel took his seat, right in front of the principal. He couldnt see his eyes in the shadow of his hat, and his hands were covering his mouth. The man hadn't moved since they'd walked in, and the earl had no way to read him. Still, he got the feeling that the man was staring back at him.

They sat in relative silence, until the vice principal had finished preparing the tea and poured it. "It's a bit irksome," Edgar said as they picked up their teacups. "But I suppose we should toast with tea. Lawrence, if you would please..."

The prefect nodded. "Very well then," he said. "To having successfully protected tradition and finishing June 4th for another year," he lifted the teacup, and the others followed. "To Weston, a toa-!"

"Wait." Lawrence jerked at the interruption, tea sloshing in the cup. They all turned to stare at the youngest addition to the tea party. Ciel didn't look at any of them. "I can't toast from the bottom of my heart like this."

The Sapphire Owl prefect arched an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"There's something worrying me," the earl replied. "It's about Derrick Arden and his friends." He caught sight of the way the prefects all recoiled at the name, though the fags didn't seem to notice. He set his tea down. "I can't toast until I've met them! Doesn't the 15th rule of the school say: '_At all times, you should share your heart with your friends, and help them out with love?_'"

That had been almost disgusting to get out, but if it would help his case, the time he'd spend reading through the school rulebook wouldn't have been a total waste.

"Derrick Arden, Richard Greenson, Hans Hardy, Robert Isaac, Ewan Thewlis," he listed out the names. "I have heard that, since about a year, none of them have returned home even worse, and have been cooped up in their dormitories during that time," he straightened and but on his best _normal and unassuming_ expression. "Actually, when I transferred to this school, I was asked by their parents to persuade them to come home just once."

He talked about how he hadn't even been able to lay eyes on them even once while he'd been in school. Not even on the day of the fire, when Violet had claimed that everyone in the dorm was already out and safe.

Edgar huffed and waved a hand. "I'm sure Violet was just upset at the time. It _was_ a grave night."

"You mean a prefect in charge of governing the prestigious Weston High would make such a grave mistake?" He asked.

"Well, who knows," the vice principal said, and Ciel stood up and slammed his hands on the table. There was a clatter of china as he glared at the principal, who still had yet to react to _anything _that had been said.

"In any case, it's true that they weren't in the purple house at all!" He snapped. "Five people have disappeared from a strictly supervised public school. This is quite oddly strange!"

Supposing from the investigations up until now, Derrick and the others were no longer in the school. In a best case scenario, they had escaped from whatever or whoever was the cause. Worst case scenario, they were dead.

It was obvious that the P4, the principal, and the vice were hiding something, and he was going to find out what. "There's a big chance they've been involved in some major incident!" He injected a note of worry into his voice. "Mr. Principal, I'd like to call the Yard!"

"That will not be necessary."

The vice spoke, and Ciel blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Because," he continued tonelessly, lifting a finger to point at the door behind them. "They are right here."

Ciel turned, and saw the handle of the door twist, and then swing open. "Hey," someone said cheerily. "It smells of tea."

Derrick Arden walked in. He looked...just like he had in the photograph he'd been given: light blonde hair, an easy smile, and calm blue eyes. The boy gaped in shock, mind racing to understand what was happening.

_He's fine?!_ Ciel watched the boy walk around the table. _Then why did he disappear for so long?!_ The fags were quick to brush everything off, but he noticed the way the prefects seemed to hunch in on themselves and avert their eyes from the figure. Derrick stopped in front of Greenhill, who stared up at him in barely disguised fear. "Arden...are you really...?"

"That tea smells good." The voice sounded distorted, like there was something wrong with his throat. His smile grew too wide to be natural, and he began to lean closer to Greenhill, who leaned further back, and then screamed in pain when Arden suddenly lurched and clamped his teeth into his arm.

Edward leaped over the table, and kicked Arden. "You bastard, what do you think you're doing?!"

It was a move that should have, at the very least knocked him unconscious. Instead, he staggered back a foot with his head bent back, and then it suddenly snapped back into place with a crunch of bone. When he leaped forward this time, there was nothing remotely human about the look in his eyes or the bloody snarl on his face.

His hair flipped up, and Ciel saw the stitches going around his forehead. He had seen this before, and the memory shook him. He pulled away the eye-patch. "Come, Sebastian!" A mere second later, he felt a rush of air that told him the demon had arrived. He ignored the shocked faces of his schoolmates and spoke to him. "This is an order: capture Derrick!"

"Yes, my lord!" Sebastian took hold of one end of the tablecloth and yanked on it, pulling it neatly from the table without upsetting anything. "A proper English gentleman should endeavour to have excellent table manners at tea. This just won't do!" A moment later, he had the struggling figure of Derrick Arden wrapped up within its confines.

The demon turned his attention Greenhill. A large chunk of his arm had been torn, and he was still groaning in agony. "So the episode will run wild after all," he heard the vice principal murmur amidst the confusion. _Episode? What is he talking about?_

"Mr. Michaelis, no," Ciel retied his eye-patch. "_Sebastian _is my butler. The reason I entered this school was to find Derrick and the rest. However, Sebastian couldn't get a hold of his whereabouts," he narrowed his eyes at the corpse. "Because Derrick Arden is already dead."

Maurice looked nearly faint. "Dead? What do you mean, he was just moving..."

The corpse lurched then, and twisted its face to the side so they could see the stitches, the empty, lifeless eyes, and bloody maw. The same broken voice came from its throat.

Ciel pulled a gun from his blazer pocket and pointed it at the principal. "Well, let's have you explain what's going on here. I have seen people that look like Derrick here, so spit it out! What did you do to Derrick?"

There was thick silence for a moment, and then Greenhill slumped. "We...we just wanted to protect..."

"Protect?" Sebastian repeated.

They confessed everything quietly, exactly what had happened. They'd killed Derrick Arden a year ago, and made a deal with someone Ciel remembered quite well. "Ryan Stoker?!"

Edgar nodded. "We set up a contract with him..." the prefect said, but the earl was hardly listening anymore. If the man they'd made contact with was that deluded doctor, then that meant that the man sitting across from them wasn't quite human.

"I see. Now everything falls into place," the demon said. "The student who disappeared, body and soul: Derrick Arden. The one able to escape my pursuit: the principal. The association researching human regeneration: the Aurora Society. This should have been a relatively simple task, but the one who made it so difficult was you, wasn't it?" He grinned and arched an eyebrow. "Why don't we both drop the teacher act here?"

No one moved, and then slow chuckles came from the figure sitting there. His hands fell away to reveal a scarily wide grin. "Ah man," the man said, sitting back. "And I really liked this job too! It was really funny to watch you struggle from the grand tier. You've offered me the best of laughs!" He lifted the top hat in a mocking representation of a salute, and long silver hair fell to his waist.

"Undertaker!"

"Hello Earl~" he spun the hat on his hand, grinning away. "You're as tiny as ever, but I'm pleased to see that you're doing well~."

"I'd wondered what could have happened to you," Sebastian cocked his head to the side in amusement. "To think you'd started working in a school..."

Undertaker smirked. "It's only temporary though~"

"My, my," he sighed. "It seems our investigation got a bit out of hand," he turned his gaze on the P4. "You four murdered Derrick Arden, and then enlisted the help of the Aurora Society to cover it up. What could drive you to such means?"

None of them spoke, and then Lawrence looked up. "Derrick Arden...was not supposed to be at this school."

A year ago, Derrick Arden had come into the school. He'd been placed in the Scarlet Fox dormitory because his family was very high in society, but he'd made a name for himself in every house. He was good at sports, poetry, studying, and had all the class of any high society member. He glowed, had the admiration of his peers, and was considered a model student.

At least, until they'd stumbled across Derrick and his friends one night, and found that none of those things were true. He had been bullying other boys into doing his work for him, using the talents of others to further himself. He'd even bribed the principal into obeying him. In truth, he was cruel and sadistic and despicable to the core.

So they'd killed him. Him, and every single person they'd found that night. Even the vice principal.

All to protect the school's good name. "You understand, don't you Phantomhive."

Ciel stared at him in shock. "Just killing someone like that...what are you saying?"

There was a sound like steam from a kettle, and then Undertaker burst into raucous laughter. Sebastian smiled as well, apparently just as amused. "Odd, it seems we agree on that point."

The earl sighed and nodded at the end of his explanation. "I see. I was asked to investigate this case by a high ranking individual. They won't sit by and do nothing after hearing the truth of the matter. However," he gave them his most _charming_ smile. "I'll ask them to consider the circumstances." He and Sebastian shared a look, and the demon smirked. "Well," Ciel turned to the Undertaker. "That just leaves you. What do you want?"

The Undertaker picked a muffin from the forgotten tea things. "Since I received copious amounts of payment just now, I'll tell you for old time's sake~."

"Derrick was certainly conscious for a moment," Ciel recalled. "It was certainly different from the other moving corpses. No, they've evolved haven't they?"

He ate the muffin in a single bite, and spoke through the mouthful. "It makes me happy to hear you say that~! You're right. Even the dead can evolve, as long as there are episodes!"

Episodes, the false memories he'd crafted. Simple memories weren't enough to keep the corpse living, they could only propel them. No, what drove them now was simple yearning for a future that they could never have.

So instead of crafting fake memories, he'd created fake future events that would let the corpses pretend they still had a future. That was why Derrick had looked normal, up until he had attacked Greenhill.

Ciel was shaking, as much as he tried to keep still. "I don't understand..." he said, and then he screamed. "_Why would you do that? What purpose does bringing back the dead serve?_"

The brim of his hat tipped up enough to see the bright, green-yellow eyes. "I just want to see what comes after the pre-determined end. Haven't you ever thought about it?" He stretched his arms up, like he was showing off something no one else could see. "There might be an interesting development lurking behind the end credits."

"That is where we both differ," Sebastian smiled. "Because 'death' is such a hopeless and definite 'end', I find it quite beautiful."

The Undertaker frowned for the first time that night, and then huffed and got to his feet. "Well, I've told you all I can for the current price. It'd be a hassle if I got caught by annoying individuals. I'd better get going~"

_No! _"I won't let you get away again!" Ciel barked. "Get him, Sebastian!"

"As you wish!" He dashed forward, and found his path blocked by none other than the vice principal, who was also sporting a set of stitches around his head. "As I thought, you're dead too."

"He's my masterpiece," Undertaker grinned from his perch atop the wall. "For now at least!" He snapped his fingers, and bodies began to erupt from the ground, hands and feet, dragging out torsos and decaying faces. These were Derrick's friends!

Edward hefted Greenhill onto his shoulders. "Run!" He yelled. "Get out of the garden, quick!"

They rushed for the open doors. One of the fags tripped, Maurice, and turned to see one of the dolls getting closer and closer. Before it could however, there was a flash of something white and grey. Ciel grabbed him back the arm and yanked him off the ground, and he saw a woman with bloodied white hair, and black wings protruding from the torn back of her dress.

Ciel spun around to see a familiar figure standing and yanking a bloodied knife from the neck of the corpse. "_Thalia?!_"

* * *

oOo

* * *

**Thalia's POV**

I froze and turned to stare at the boy nervously, my wings fluttering uselessly behind. Using them was a fucking hassle, I swear. "Uh...hey?"

"_What are you doing here?!_" He yelled at me, looking and sounding just a bit hysterical. I could understand that, considering everything I'd just overheard. If I hadn't spent about two weeks stewing in the most emotional outburst I'd ever had, I'd have been screaming too.

I scratched the back of my head with my least bloody hand. "Yeah...so I might have actually...never...left...?"

"_What?!_"

"This looked important!"

"_Have you just been hiding in the school all night?_"

"More or less!" I lifted my foot and crushed the doll down again, stepping harder until the skull caved in and I could feel the squelch of brain matter and blood soaking my boot, and then I turned back to stare up at Undertaker. He looked...stunned, actually. Like he hadn't expected me to swoop in and appear out of fucking nowhere.

There was a sound of a teacup shattering, and it sounded impossibly loud. Sebastian bent backwards and smashed the head of the doll into the ground. "Thalia, protect the young master!"

"On it!" I whipped out my other knife and faced the incoming dolls. "Ciel, your friend doesn't look too good." I flipped the knife into a reverse grip. "You might want to move him." I said that out of courtesy, because the kid did look like he'd keel over any second. I brought the knife across the neck of one of the dolls, and heard a thud behind me.

These dolls were faster than the others, stronger too, but they were still made of skin and bone, and they'd still die if I cut their heads off. Another doll lurched for me, and I plunged the blades forward into the eyes instead of his throat. _Whoops, I missed. _"Thalia!"

I jumped back before the teeth could reach me, and looked up in shock when a shadow descended. I grabbed Ciel and darted into the air just as Sebastian and the Undertaker landed just where we'd been standing. Had I been just a second later, and he could have gotten the earl. "I see you've gotten used to your new toys, little maid~" he grinned, and ducked to avoid Sebastian. He leaped onto the stone wall. "Well, this has been fun. I look forward to our next meeting, earl~"

With that, he jumped backwards and disappeared entirely. I stayed, hovering jerkily in the air. I wasn't used to carrying extra weight while in the air. Gravity seemed to be much worse, and I found myself free falling more than actually landing. Once my feet touched the ground, I put the earl down and flexed the sore muscles of my arms. I surveyed the scene of total carnage that surrounded us. "So...how are you gonna explain this to her lovely Majesty?"

"I don't even know how to begin," he grumbled, wiping away spatters of blood and dirt from his face.

"Can't you just tell her the truth?" Sebastian asked, pulling on a pair of clean, white gloves. When the _hell_ had he gotten clean anyway? "That a former _shinigami_ is reviving the dead?"

The earl snorted. "Like she would believe something like tha-!"

The door of the garden banged open, and I leaped behind Sebastian, folding my wings down as far as I could until they disappeared into my shoulders again. "Ciel!" Edward called. "Everyone's been safely evacuated!"

Then he froze and stared at the bodies, the blood, and the ruined remains of the tea. "Yeah, we're done here too," Ciel replied.

"Oh..." he said in a small voice. He sounded very small; this was probably the hardest any one of Ciel's cases had ever hit him. To have someone you trusted and loved turn out to be something else entirely...I could relate to that. "Ciel...I'm scared. If this had gone on, I might have become like these prefects. The kind of person that mistakes murdering someone for enacting justice!"

The boy smiled, and it was as sincere and understanding as he could make it. "Don't worry," he told him. "As long as you're afraid of that, then you're still normal. Unlike me..." he marched past his cousin, calling over his shoulder. "Sebastian, Thalia, let's go."


	58. The Witches' Village

**Exams are over! I decided to do the Greenwitch Arc because there are too many delicious scenes to pass up, plus it's one of my favourite arcs!**

**OMG YOU GUYS THERE IS A PET SHOP NEARBY BRB I OWN NOTHING  
**

**The Witches' Village**

"Jump."

"No."

"You'll have to get down at some point."

"No. This is my home now."

Ciel scowled and resisted the urge to stomp his foot in frustration. Beside me, Sebastian looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. "Thalia, that was an order! Get down from that tree!"

"Never!" I yelled back, clinging tightly to the branch of the ridiculously tall tree Sebastian had put me in. My wings were out, and folded tightly against my back. They wanted to test my flight capabilities, and the best way to do that was apparently to place me on the highest branch of the highest fucking tree in the compound – an oak tree approximately 35ft high – and then ask me to jump down.

I said no, of course. Okay, yes I _had_ jumped down from the roof of the manor, but I hadn't exactly been in the greatest frame of mind so that hardly counted.

Sebastian smirked at me, balancing perfectly on the narrow branch. "You didn't hesitate at the school," he told me.

"I was surprised then!" I snapped back, peering down and immediately regretting it. I'm terrified of heights, I'm afraid of falling, and this was one of my worst fears come to life. My wings suddenly felt like leaden weights, and I was freaking out. I clutched the branch tighter, and began inching closer to the trunk of the tree.

Below us, Ciel sighed into the megaphone he was holding. "I don't have time for this. You honestly don't think you can stay up there forever, do you?"

Logically, I know that. It would get cold at night. It could rain, and I'd get sleepy. I still close my eyes and shake my head rapidly, and somehow let my concentration slip enough for my wings to relax instead of remaining tensed against my back. So high up, the wind was stronger than it was on the ground, and it caught on the feathers and I lost my balance.

I screamed as I fell, and felt Sebastian catch me and land on a much lower branch about ten feet off the ground. I swore loudly and repetitively as I clung to him. "Don't put me down, don't put me down, _don't you dare put me down!_"

"Very well," he replied easily, holding me until my breathing calmed and I stopped shaking so much. "So you can only fly when you're surprised?" He asked me. glanced up at him in confusion, and gave a shallow, jerky nod. Sebastian nodded thoughtfully, and then leaned over and bit my ear.

I yelped and shot twelve feet into the air, clutching my ear with one hand, and a tree branch with the other. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Ciel sighed from the ground, clearly disgusted with us. "I suppose that worked. I have work to do," he turned and walked back towards the house. "Sebastian, you tidy up here. I want something sweet for tea."

"Yes, my lord." I was still rubbing my ear when he landed on the limb I was on, and he smirked at me. "Shall I?" Before I could answer, he scooped me up in his arms and jumped down from the tree. Once we were on the ground, I promptly flopped down on the grass underneath the tree, and vowed never to take the beauty of solid, flat ground for granted.

"Solid ground," I sighed, wriggling in the grass. "I am so happy and at peace right now. I might never move from here."

"Are you quite comfortable?"

He sounded amused. I nodded with my eyes closed. "I suppose I should go prepare tea for the young master. What do you think of a coffee and walnut cake?" My eyes shot open, already attracted by the thought of something sweet. "I might even make too much. But, if you don't want any..."

"No, wait!" I jumped off the ground and ran after him. "Sebastian!"

Cooking with Sebastian – I say cooking, when all that really happens is that he does the actual cooking, and I hover around and watch while eating bits and pieces – was something I'd started doing. Ever since we'd returned to the school, maybe even before that, I'd started some very exhibiting clingy behaviours.

I stood closer to him than before, hovered by his side in open spaces, and simply found myself gravitating towards him even when I didn't have to.

It was pissing me off, but I couldn't bring myself to stop entirely. Sebastian was safe (yet he was a demon. The irony did not escape me), and I lo...I loved him, why the hell was it so difficult to me to say those words when I actually could?!

_Stupid, cowardly, indecisive-_

"Germany, you say?" Sebastian asked. Ciel had told us when Sebastian brought his tea that the queen had a case for him in Germany. A series of mysterious deaths had been occurring, in which perfectly young and healthy men and women would suddenly develop grotesque swellings on their faces, and then die. The queen wanted him to investigate the cause of the epidemic, and report it to her.

Which made no sense, since the Phantomhives dealt with problems in _England_. At least, not until he explained that the queen had relatives there, and wanted to know if the deaths were the result of some disease, and if she should send medical aid.

"Since there haven't been any replies from the German side, she can't send any officials," Sebastian commented thoughtfully. "So she decided to send you..."

Ciel took a bite of the cake, and I plucked one of the walnuts that garnished his plate. To give him credit, he barely reacted. I did this very often, and usually only when I was sure he wasn't going to eat whatever it was. "I've only been abroad to solve an incident once," he said. "I don't get why she had to go out of her way to send me this time."

Sebastian refolded the letter neatly. "Shall I ask for a more definite reason to send you?"

"They will just evade it," Ciel replied in a disgruntled manner. "It's a dog's job to get excited as soon as you throw a bone at it, right?"

"I don't like that metaphor."

Ciel continued, ignoring me. "Tha Phantomhives have an information network that stretches all the way from Europe to Asia. I've thought of using that...especially 'that guy' I took over from my predecessor." _Who?_ I had no idea who they were referring to, but Sebastian looked amused now. Ciel returned his teacup to the saucer with a quiet clatter. "I'll have Clause go over to his place. Inform him."

"As you wish."

* * *

Sebastian disappeared for about three hours sometime the next morning, leaving me and the other servants to serve Ciel as best we could. I watched Bard make breakfast so that he wouldn't put anything flammable in the porridge, I supervised Mey-Rin polishing the stairs so she wouldn't accidentally use shoe polish (she didn't, as the new glasses meant she could actually _read _the labels on items), and helped Finny weed the garden.

I also watched Pluto, who seemed especially enamoured with my wings. The first time I'd brought them out in front of the hellhound, he had gotten so excited that he transformed into his human form and tried to gnaw on them. It had been slightly traumatising.

The butler returned early in the afternoon, through the window as usual, with his task done and accounted for. A few days later, a man arrived at the mansion for supper. He was thin, but sturdily built, with blonde hair tied at the base of his skull, and a Balbo-style beard-and-moustache. He had somewhat thick brows, and seemed jovial and easy-going.

"It's been a while, Claus," Ciel greeted him as he took his seat. "I'm sorry to have called on you so suddenly."

"Don't worry about it!" The man, Claus, made a dismissive motion with the hand not holding his glass. "But your butler is really elusive! I was quite surprised when he appeared while I was enjoying a sauna in Finland!"

I shot Sebastian a mildly scandalized look while Ciel apologised. "I'm glad your travels did not take you far this time though," the earl commented as I served the food. "You could have been at the other end of the earth."

Claus laughed. "An old man like me has nothing other than travel left to amuse himself with, you know." The chuckles subsided after a moment. "Well then, let's talk about my travels to Germany already." The mood at the table became serious. Claus took a sip of his wine. "I went straight to _him_ after I arrived, but he just brushed me off coldly and said he was busy."

Ciel hummed curiously as he cut his meat. "In the end I went to the place myself," Claus chuckled. "It was quite hard, being so far out in the countryside! I tried to visit the village and mansion where the deaths had occurred, but there didn't seem as if there was a contagious disease going around."

There had been no signs of a chronic disease, or any obvious wounds that could have caused the deaths. In fact, when he'd asked how the people had died, the villagers had replied,

"_It was the witch's curse._"

Ciel stared at the man. "A witch?" He repeated dubiously.

"The victims were all of different age and gender, but they all had one thing in common," Claus informed us in a matter-of-fact manner. "They all visited a certain forest before they died: the _werewolf woods_. It's an occult forest the locals consider taboo."

_Werewolves?_ I thought of Pluto outside, and wondered if there was much difference between werewolves and hellhounds.

Southern Germany had a terrible history is witch hunts that lasted from the 14th to the 17th century. The witches that managed to stay alive and escape fled into the forest and settled there. To protect themselves, they released their familiars into the forest. Ever since then, it is believed that anyone who steps into that forest will be cursed.

Ciel looked annoyed now. "People are dying because of a curse?" He snapped. "That's ridiculous!"

_You have a demon for a butler, and an angel-human hybrid for a maid,_ I stared at him blankly. Claus laughed loudly. "I thought you'd say that! I'm sorry I couldn't get any more information than this!"

The earl sighed and leaned back in his seat. "No, I'm sorry I made you go. It seems there's nothing left to do than to go have a look for myself. Also," he fixed Claus with a serious look. "This is unrelated, but there's something else I'd like to ask you..."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Our journey took us to the outskirts of Nuremberg, in Germany. It was colder here than in England, which didn't sit well with me. It was a small village, but it seemed cozy enough at any rate. There were children playing in the streets with hoops and sticks, and girls playing with stick or cloth dolls. People bustled about, leading horse-drawn carts to-and-fro, and pushing wheelbarrows along. Women bartered and gossiped near stalls, and the air smelled like a mix of forest, peat and smoke.

There was an air of fear present however. It wasn't anything you'd detect unless you were especially discerning or knew why it hovered above the heads and homes of the villages, or flashed furtive glances at something just beyond their homes, but it was there.

As strangers, we garnered a bit of attention, but no one approached us. We stopped to ask someone to take us to the _werewolf woods_, only to discover that none of the German Sebastian had tried to teach Ciel was useful_. _"It's east Franconian," he explained after the man Ciel had spoken to had replied in something that made absolutely no sense to me. "A dialect of southern Germany."

Luckily, we had Sebastian to translate. Honestly, he was just all kinds of useful. "_I ain't gonna die from some witch's curse,_" the old man had apparently said. He was short, stout, with a thick salt-and-pepper moustache. There were small scars and crow's feet around his eyes and on his cheeks. He looked surly, but that might have just been because of the line of questioning. "_No matter how much you offer me, I ain't gonna go!_"

That was to be expected. "Has he seen someone cursed?" Ciel asked, and Sebastian translated the question.

Yes, he had. It wasn't a pretty sight, he told us. Their faces had swelled up, and their skin became muddy like it was melting right off their bones. However, one of the afflicted men he'd seen was still alive, but had apparently gone mad with the shock and pain. Whenever anyone tried to talk to him, all he would say was something about _the wolves are coming_.

Sebastian reported this to Ciel. "It seems the officials took him and the other victims to a large hospital," he told us. "Shall I search all the hospitals in the country?"

"No, don't bother. If he's mad, then there's no use talking to him," Ciel sighed. "It might just be faster for us to visit this forest ourselves."

Sebastian lifted his shoulders in a _well what can we do? _manner. "However, he doesn't seem to want to take out the carriage no matter how much we offer him."

So we bought (or rented, I wasn't following the particulars of transaction) the man's two carts, and the horses attached to it, and led them back to where we'd left the others with the luggage. I climbed in the carriage with the other servants, and found myself with a familiar snake on my lap. It hissed quietly. "_You're warm_, says Oscar," Snake translated from the front of the cart.

I smiled and stroked the back of its head, and giggled when Oscar slumped down into my lap with his head flat on my thigh. "Thank you," I told the snake.

"Thalia is so good with animals, she is," Mey-Rin commented, scooting further away from the snake. "Aren't you scared of it?"

There was a click of a lighter, and Bard stuck a freshly lit cigarette between his lips. "Animals can sense a person's intentions, I guess," Bard said around the cigarette in his mouth. "That probably means you're a good person."

Well that probably explained why animals, apart from cats and hellhounds, didn't seem to like Sebastian. "Of course Thalia's a good person!" Finny chirped, leaning closer to watch the snake. I reached over and ruffled his hair affectionately.

As we neared the edge of the forest, conversation grew shorter and more hushed. By the time we'd reached the cover of the trees, the only sound present was the creak of the wooden cartwheels turning, the sound of rocks and sticks crunching on the ground, and the occasional hiss of a snake.

"S-So this is the werewolf forest," Mey-Rin shivered as the shadows from the trees grew larger and darker with distance and time.

"I get why people think it's cursed," Bard gulped. The woods were silent themselves, apart from a rustle from the foliage, and a lone bird call from the branchesabove. I sat in silence, looking around and stroking Oscar. I wondered if he had fallen asleep. I could see Ciel and Sebastian talking in the cart ahead, and I wondered what they were discussing.

Then we finally saw something: buildings, in the distance just beyond a few trees. The carts slowed as we drew near the edge of the houses, and we cautiously disembarked. Oscar curled around my neck where he was hidden by my scarf. "There really is a village inside the woods," Ciel stared in shock at the houses. The air was foggy, and the lights that lit up the entrance burned sickly shades of orange and green.

There was no one in the streets of the village, and it could have been considered abandoned, if not for tiny signs of life. The well had been used, and the doors weren't covered in moss or ivy like they would have been. "The houses are still being cared for," I answered when Ciel asked. "There are still people here." _Maybe they're hiding from us._

Quiet for a moment, and then Finny cupped a hand around his mouth. "HEEEEEY!" He yelled, shattering the silence. A flock of birds took flight from a nearby tree. "ANYONE HEEEERE?"

As if it had been a signal, a window of one of the houses slammed open. More crashed open, and guns with the barrels pointed right at us appeared. Doors began to fly open, and more people poured out. They were all holding pitchforks, knives, pickaxes, and screaming at us in rabid German, which further added to my panic. I felt my wings spasm.

Then I noticed something odd: they were all women. Not a single one of the villagers were men. That, and they were all dressed in clothes that were at least a century out of date.

Not like that made a difference, because when someone has a gun pointed at your head, you're not going to question their gender or their clothing choices.

"Well this sure is a big welcome," Bard grumbled sarcastically.

One of the women spat something at us in German. She was wearing a huge brass medallion around her neck, and seemed to be the leader. "It's just too bad none of us speak German," I muttered loudly, and scowled when one of the women leveled a pitchfork at me threateningly.

Ciel leaned closer to Sebastian. "Tell them I want to speak to the lord of the land," he instructed, never taking his eyes off the hostile crowd.

As soon as Sebastian relayed the message, a ripple of fear ran over the crowd. I heard them murmur the name _Master Sullivan_ more than once. "Master Sullivan?" Sebastian asked, before the woman yelled something else. She seemed even more upset now.

I was getting annoyed by this language barrier, especially since the women were even more agitated than they were before. "What is she saying?" I asked, and then yelped when they began to scream something else and advance on us threateningly. "Okay, never mind!"

Then a new voice cut across the noise, and the villagers suddenly quietened. I turned to see who had spoken, and saw a large, broad-shouldered man with thick blonde hair and whiskers dressed in the same century-old fashion as the female villagers. His presence in this previously female-populated area wasn't the surprise, however.

What was surprising was the girl perched in his arms. She was tiny, probably about 8 or 9, with largest, prettiest green eyes I'd ever seen, and long black hair. Her feet hidden beneath her flouncy dress were abnormally tiny, and I remembered something I'd read about how girl's feet were bound and broken to keep them tiny. I felt my feet ache in sympathy, and I had to look away.

Her appearance was a surprise at any rate, as was the way the villagers deferred to her. Sebastian stepped forward to ask. "Are you master Sullivan?"

"I am Sieglinde Sullivan," she replied authoritatively, and in English thank goodness, although it was halting and thickly accented. "Lord of this forest!"

...well gosh, that was a surprise. I dropped my hands and sighed, and then blinked in surprise when the man suddenly stuck his face very close to Sebastian's. He eyed the butler, and then twisted his face up into a threatening expression. _Holy shit._

The girl snapped at him, smacking him over the head. She then stared at us, and then focused on Ciel for an uncomfortably long period of time. Wolfram sighed and composed himself again, and said something to Sebastian that sounded like an instruction to _get lost_.

"Maybe we should pull back and think of a plan," Ciel murmured. That did seem to be the best course of action, all things considered. Just as we were about to bid the scary villagers a not-so-fond farewell and leave, the man spoke again. Whatever he said seemed to amuse Sebastian, who smiled thoughtfully.

There was a moment of tense silence, during which I grumbled internally about the fact that I couldn't understand a single word being spoken. The woman from earlier tried to say something, only to be hushed mid-suggestion. The little girl leaned over and whispered something in the man's ear.

Whatever it was shocked him, and he protested for a moment before giving in. This little girl appeared to have absolute power in the village, and I wondered how and why. Was she the only surviving member of the previous lord and lady?

Wolfram turned back to us and spoke again. He seemed less antagonistic than before. He took a deep breath, as though he didn't want to say the next words. The waves of discontent that sped through the crowd was indication of just how controversial whatever he had said was. The same woman yelled something in angry German, and then clenched her mouth shut when he responded in kind.

I leaned over to Sebastian and whispered loudly, "Care to explain what the hell is going on?"

"It seems they will let us stay in the landowner's house for the night," he gave us the short translation, pointing to the largest house in the village. "That is the lady's _Green Manor._"

_It looks haunted. I don't want to._

Sadly, I didn't have a choice, and we followed Wolfram and the little lady to the manor. "First they want us to leave, then they decide we can stay," Ciel grumbled. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Sebastian replied quietly. "However..." We froze at the entrance to the manor and gaped in shock at the setting. The grounds were covered in old instruments of torture. There were rusty metal cages, stocks, and even an iron maiden. "This is surely not a normal village."

As was becoming nearly customary for me, I attached myself to Sebastian's side. Something shifted around my neck, and I remembered that Oscar was still there. Ciel huffed and looked disgruntled. "There might actually be something occult behind this..."

I arched an eyebrow. "Why do you always sound so disbelieving whenever something supernatural happens?"

He glared back at me, and then blinked in surprise when the little girl called to him in German. Sebastian responded to her, and then leaned over to speak translate. "She's asking your name."

The earl turned his glare on Sebastian. "Why do I have the feeling that you said something offensive?" He muttered quietly, and then raised his voice. "I am Ciel Phantomhive."

She asked something else, and Sebastian replied again, then she settled and regarded Ciel with thoughtful curiously that unnerved him. I wanted to tease him that she probably had a crush on him, but then I considered how true that might be. After all, I hadn't seen any other children in the village, and definitely no other male apart from Wolfram.

We reached a large, rusty black gate held shut by a large, rusty black padlock, the key of which Wolfram produced from his coat pocket. The metal swung open with an ominous screech of grating metal, and then we were within the gardens of the Green Manor.

It certainly lived up to its name. The grounds were covered in flowers and foliage of every colour and every shape. There was a thick smell of petrichor, and something cloyingly sweet. Finny at least seemed excited, and ran over to one of the strangely shaped flowers. "What a strange flower!" He beamed. "I've never seen anything like it before!"

"Don't touch that!" I called out to him. "You don't know what that could do to you!"

The inside of the manor was just as mysterious and creepy as its exterior, and was lit from floor to ceiling by candles and lanterns of all shapes and sizes. The staircase wound all the way up, and was well polished and lit as well.

Sebastian instructed the other servants to wait downstairs, while I followed he and Ciel up the stairs and into a lovely dining area illuminated by two candle-strung chandeliers that hung above the table. One of the chairs was covered in animal skin, and had horns nailed to the top, and on this the young lady was placed.

She said something to the man, probably giving him instructions while Sebastian sat Ciel, and he left the room. For a moment, no one said anything, and then she tried to speak to Ciel. Sebastian responded again, and she nodded. There was silence again, and I amused myself by tickling Oscar.

The seconds ticked past. Five minutes. The girl turned to me this time, and said something else. Sebastian glanced at me with his eyebrows raised. "She wants to know what you're playing with."

I froze, and then gently poked at the snake until it deigned to stick its head out from the fabric of my scarf. Instead of screaming and backing away, like I'd expected her to, she actually looked fascinated, and began to chatter in rapid German until Sebastian told her that I couldn't speak German either. Still, I felt confident enough to kneel beside her seat so she could touch Oscar as well.

This helped quell some of the original awkwardness. Thirty minutes passed, and then an hour. Oscar was on her lap now, and I was showing her how to stroke his head so that he'd flatten himself in pleasure. Suddenly, her stomach let loose a loud growl. "Well, at least I'm not the only one who's hungry," I commented.

Sebastian said something to her, consulting his pocket-watch. Sieglinde spoke, and her stomach rumbled again. They both conversed briefly, and then Sebastian walked out of the room. The only language bridge we had, and he'd just left. Excellent.

Ciel gaped after him, while Sieglinde continued to play with the snake. She turned to me after a moment, and reached for my face. I blinked in surprise when she fluffed the ends of my hair, and asked me something in slow German.

"The colour?" I wondered, gesturing as well. She nodded. "Um, I was...born with it?" I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. She clearly didn't understand my English, but she seemed to understand enough to know what I'd meant. She nodded again, and then turned to speak to Ciel.

She appeared to be asking about Sebastian, because Ciel's response was to point to the door Sebastian had exited through, and then at himself, "Sebastian. My...butler." She nodded to show that she understood, and then pointed to me on the ground. "Thalia. My maid." She nodded again, and then asked something else. "Parents?" He shook his head and made a sad expression. "Don't...have. Died."

Her eyes widened, and she lowered her head sympathetically. When I glanced back at Ciel, he looked more nervous than I'd ever seen him. "Nervous?" I asked him from the floor.

"Just keep her distracted or something," he snapped at me. I rolled my eyes, and turned to Sieglinde. She looked like she was still thinking about Ciel's parents, so I poked her shoulder. When she turned to me again, I did the first thing I could think of: I crossed my eyes and stuck out my tongue.

She laughed. I did another, and she laughed some more. The more ridiculous the face, the louder she laughed. Sometimes she tried to copy me. I felt...strange in a way...like I was playing with a younger sister or something. I mean, Ciel wasn't exactly the kind of kid to be amused by something as basal as a funny face.

Sieglinde was giggling, and I was gearing up to do another. I heard footsteps coming towards the door. "Whoops, time's up! Pass the snake!" I grabbed Oscar and quickly hid him back in my scarf with seconds to spare.

Dinner was finally served, and I have no idea what it was called, just that it appeared to be mainly pork with potatoes. Dessert was a dish of berries and cream. There was a basket of bread present to go with the food. My stomach threatened to rumble, so I clenched the muscles inwards.

I had to admit, it was kind of funny to see the way Sieglinde dug into the food. Like me, her manner was unrefined. It was kind of refreshing after being constantly poked and prodded by Sebastian into eating with the right fork, or not grabbing for the bread, or not eating cake with my hands.

I giggled to myself, and then blinked when a loaf of bread appeared in front of me. A small hand was attached to it, and attached to that was a small girl with huge green eyes. When I didn't immediately take the proffered bread, she held it out even more firmly as if making her intentions clearer.

"Oh...thank you," I smiled and accepted the food. It smelled divine, as I expected of Sebastian's cooking, and I opened my mouth to tear into it.

Someone coughed. I froze with my teeth just centimetres from the soft, delicious bread, and blinked at Ciel and Sebastian. The demon arched an eyebrow, a smile on his lips. "Wouldn't it be good manners to share, Thalia?"

I glanced from him, to the bread, and then back again, and then crammed as much of the bread as I could fit in a single bite into my mouth. Sebastian managed to look entirely unimpressed by this, and also worried that I would somehow choke. At the other end of the table, Sieglinde burst out laughing. I snorted and joined her, and very nearly did choke, which just made us laugh harder. Ciel, and even Wolfram looked absolutely flabbergasted, while Sebastian merely looked despairing.

Suddenly the door of the room flew open, and the same women from before ran in. "Wolfram!" She shouted. She looked panicked, and whatever she said next sucked the calm joviality from the room and replaced it with cold reality.

"_There werewolf has appeared!_"

**Thalia gets along really well with kids, I've realised. Kids and animals. Please review!  
**


	59. Plague In The Forest

**Hey, I'm really thankful for all the positive things people have been saying. I know I mentioned Thalia, but I really mean all female OCs. The double standards are too real, and they need to stop.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter! Also, to everyone to said that the story was getting depressing...this chapter is still kind of depressing, but don't worry this should be the last depressing chapter for a while. Honestly, this chapter could have been much worse tbh. Tardiscompanion101, you know what I mean. **

**I own nothing other than Thalia.**

**Plague In The Forest**

We rushed down the stairs of the mansion and out into the cold night air. There was a crowd gathered around in the village square, and in the middle of that was a woman lying on a stained straw mat. Her bodice had been ripped nearly to shreds, exposing bloody slash marks that criss-crossed across her back.

Sieglinde looked as though she had been slapped. She spoke, sounding scared and worried, as she was placed on the mat beside the barely breathing woman. Wolfram held out a small bottle to her. It was pale green and gold and looked like the sort of thing that _would_ contain something magical. His voice seemed to snap her out of her shock, and she took the vial from him in her smaller hands.

The little witch took a deep breath, and when she spoke next her voice was less tremulous. She said something in a warning tone as she removed the stopper. We watched as she poured the contents onto the wound, speaking in what wasn't German, but sounded like the prettiest gibberish I had ever heard. On the mat, the women writhed and screamed in pain while the other villagers looked on in fear.

Finally the vial was empty, and the screams had quitened off into low groans, and then silence as the woman slipped out of consciousness. Sieglinde sighed and leaned back on her haunches, and then she frowned and asked something. A woman in the crowd spoke up, and her next words sounded both horrified and panicked.

I leaned closer to Sebastian as Wolfram barked instructions to the villagers, and many of them hurried off. "Translation, please?"

"It seems the woman forgot to wear a certain talisman, hence her current state," he replied, staring at the gashes with a frown. _Scary village, cult, mystical animal of a canine nature...why does this all seem so familiar?_

Ciel narrowed his eyes in contemplation. "Could there really be a monster in the forest?" He wondered quietly. "Sebastian, what do you think?"

The demon shook his head. "I can't really say anything from the wound alone," he replied, and then he lowered his voice. "Shall I search the forest now?"

The earl considered this for a moment, and then shook his head slightly. "No, let's wait," he said decidedly. "We can't make any sudden moves and risk drawing more attention to ourselves."

"_Es ist__der Zorn__der großen__Werwölfe__!_" I jumped and turned to see who had spoken/screamed. The remaining crowd seemed to have split, and standing at the entrance of that split was a woman dressed in grey and black rags. She was holding a twisted staff and looked positively ancient. Her skin looked grey, and the firelight from the torches cast ominous shadows across her face. One eye was swollen almost entirely shut, and the pupil of other was shrunken, and darted to stare at us madly.

She pointed at us with one wrinkled finger. "_The_ _great werewolves have been angered by our letting outsiders disrupt the forest!_" Sebastian later translated. "_Outsiders, hurry up and leave!_"

Sieglinde leaped to our defence. "_It's because she didn't carry her talisman!_" She argued. "_They won't attack you if you have a talisman!_"

The ancient witch – and I mean this negatively – whirled on her. "_Have the great wolves ever laid a hand on us before!?_" She spat angrily, and I noticed a large bronze medallion hanging around her sagging neck. "_Are you protecting the outsiders, Green Witch? Do not forget, Green Witch, the cruelties your ancestors experienced at the hands of outsiders! You cannot trust them!_"

_Well she seems friendly,_ I considered the look of despair on Sieglinde's face, and then squeaked when the witch suddenly seemed to materialize right in front of us. She spat something in a venomous tone right in Ciel's face, and then hobbled off while still screaming her warnings.

Her wailing got quieter the farther away she moved, until it joined the background hum of the village night. Low whispers sprung up, and finally Wolfram sighed and turned to the women. Several of them picked up the lady still lying unconscious on the mat, and carried her away.

He turned to us and gave us a final warning. "_You should know that by now," _he said._ "If you value your life, don't enter the forest alone! At all!_"

* * *

oOo

* * *

After that bout of excitement, we were ushered us back into the mansion, and led to the bedroom the young master would be sleeping in. I knew that my sleeping quarters were elsewhere with Mey-Rin, but I was curious and almost certain than the night was far from over.

In any case, Ciel's room was incredibly comfortable. For such an old castle, the rooms were actually quite lush, and I quickly took up residence on the low, cushy window seat while Sebastian prepared a pot of strong tea and some scones for the young master.

"To think there would actually be victims of the werewolf," Ciel muttered over the rim of his cup. "But it's different from Claus's information – _mmph!_" He choked on the scone Sebastian shoved into his mouth, and scowled angrily as the demon made a shushing motion and walked over to the door. I got up and stepped closer to Ciel.

Sebastian slowly placed a hand on the doorknob, and then pulled it open suddenly. There was a squeal of terror from whoever had been on the other side as they found the surface pulled away from them.

That person turned out to be Sieglinde wearing a weird contraption that seemed to involve a lot of balloons. Before she could hit the floor, Sebastian caught her. "_Well, well Master Sullivan,_" he picked her up. "_All by yourself without a servant?_" He released the balloons from their place and squeezed her face punishingly. My eyes followed the colourful spheres until they bumped against the ceiling.

"_I can't admire a woman who would stand outside a man's room. Can I ask your business?_"

I pulled my eyes away from the balloons, and watched her smirk. "_You're the ones who have business with me, don't you?_" She replied. "_I'm a witch. I can see through your thoughts completely._"

Sebastian looked faintly amused now, and he said something in German that made her expression change. "Sebastian, put her down," I walked over to them and folded my arms across my chest as he lowered her carefully to the ground. She balanced on tiny, delicate feet and took a deep breath.

"_I knew that tonight, I would have to destroy the key to the secret chamber that I have protected for 11 years,_" she said, or so Sebastian translated later on. Honestly, if I'd understood her, I would not have let things continue on the way they did. At that moment however, I just noticed that she was trembling.

She turned to me and said something else, and Sebastian's arched an eyebrow in confusion. "_Come!_" I recognized the order from one of Ciel's books, and bemusedly allowed Sieglinde to take one of my hands. She hobbled towards the bed, and then flopped down beside Ciel. Her next words seemed to stun and scare the men, and I leaned towards Sebastian. "What did she say?"

His eyebrow twitched. "It seems she believes that the young master is here to claim her."

I blinked dumbly. "What?" Until it clicked. "No. No, nononono!" I yelped, and then panicked even more when she began to undo the strings and buttons of her bodice. "Sebastian, tell her no!"

"And now it seems she thinks the young master wishes to undress her himself," he ignored me, and looked vaguely interested in what was going on. Sieglinde pulled on my hand and said something else, and both of Sebastian's brows went up. "Oh? I believe she thinks you and I are here to provide an example. Well, if I must..."

"Sebastian, I swear before all that is holy-!" I squeaked and tried to fend the demon off, while Ciel backpedalled further away from the witch on the bed.

"_I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S SAYING, BUT I KNOW THERE'S A MISCOMMUNICATION HERE!_" He yelled, and then everyone froze when Sieglinde suddenly leaned forward and grabbed the young earl somewhere very...personal.

_...what the absolute-?_

Ciel reacted in the most natural way possible – in my opinion anyway – and promptly shoved the younger girl off the bed entirely. She landed on the floor with a bump, leaving the earl looking both traumatized and fearful. Sebastian looked like he was a second away from bursting into laughter, and I might have been the same way if I wasn't hyperventilating in his arms.

I collected myself enough to ask Sieglinde if she was alright.

She recovered quickly enough to begin screaming at Ciel. "_Wie__nicht raffiniert__, __Schande__eine junge Frau__! __Sie__Frau__-__Mann!_"

"_I don't understand what you're saying! You molester!_"

"Now, now you two," Sebastian snickered, sliding his hands down my hips and finally off my body entirely (which did wonders for my breathing, honestly). He suddenly produced a tray of pastries and dark chocolate spread out of nowhere, immediately drawing their attention (and mine). "Having a sweet time in bed is fine but, don't you think it's about time we have some of the sweets right here?"

Ten minutes later, Ciel and Sieglinde were sitting across each other on the bed and eating. "'_Men are always overflowing with lust',_" Sieglinde said with her mouth full. "_That is what the books said._"

"The books are right," I said, placing a macaron in my mouth and lifting my fingers to catch the caramel.

Sebastian glanced at me amusedly. "Well, I won't deny that some are like that..."

Sieglinde chewed and swallowed the pastry in her mouth, crumbs now stuck all over her mouth and chin. "_There are only women here. This is the first time I have ever seen the real thing._"

"_Is Mr. Wolfram not a man?_" Sebastian asked. Sieglinde replied saying that he was more like a guard dog. "_Speaking of guard dogs, everyone in the village seems to be very scared of these Great Werewolves. What are they?_"

The little witch's eyes became downcast, and for a moment she said nothing. Then wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and looked up. "_Do you know of the witch hunts?_" She asked. When Sebastian nodded, she continued. "_In the past, witches were seen as the cause of all trouble, and were killed by being submitted to a form of torture known as the witch trials._"

I thought of the Iron Maiden that had been in the courtyard, and shuddered. Casting spells to drive away misfortune, and healing people with herbs, that was the true purpose of a witch. However, the church declared them heretics and they were forced to hide in the forest to escape death.

One of the witches made a pact with the werewolves in the forest, exchanging her legs for the protection and safety of her sisters. "_She was the Green Witch_," Sieglinde said. "_My ancestor. That is why the lord has to be submitted to this throughout the generations, so they cannot walk._" I glanced at her delicate, bent and broken feet, and looked away.

"So why did the werewolves attack the villagers?" Ciel asked. "Isn't that against their contract?"

Sieglinde gave a half-hearted shrug. "It is many hundreds of years ago since the Green Witch made her contract with the werewolves," she replied. "_The first Green Witch died a long time ago. The reason may simply be that her blood has thinned out too much_."

"So then this village isn't protected by the werewolves, but is instead imprisoned by them," Sebastian spoke, and she nodded.

"_That may be true,_" she said sadly. "But since I was born, I haven't left the village, and I don't think I ever will," she jerked around to stare at Ciel. "_You will go back outside tomorrow, right? Please, I want you to tell me of the outside world!_"

Her expression was so hopeful, so innocent, and I barely paid attention to Ciel's annoyed groan and Sebastian's whispers. Finally, he sighed and leaned forward. Speaking in stilted German, he extended his hand towards her. Sieglinde's eyes grew wide, and she looked adorably confused. Sebastian took her hand and placed it in Ciel's. "_In the young master's country, you grasp each other' s hands as a show of friendship._"

The confusion melted into wonder as she stared at their joined hands, and I wondered mildly how Elizabeth might feel about this. Sieglinde made a sound, and pulled out three bronze medallions from the folds of her dress. "_I will give you these,_" she handed one to each of us. "_They are amulets against the werewolves. You should wear them when you leave._"

"Thank you!" I smiled, pulling it over my head. The medallion dangled snugly against my chest, and I admired the intricate design.

Sieglinde began to squirm on the bed, and turned to Sebastian. "_Will you teach me about the 'sweet time in bed' you talked about earlier?_"

"Ah yes, I did mention that," Sebastian said, after translating her question. "What shall I do young master?"

I barely lifted my head to respond. "We're not teaching the eight year old kid about sex, Sebastian."

"I can't do much with a stupid child, can I?" _You're a kid too. You can't do much at all._ "Have her play with some toys or something!" Sebastian repeated the order to the witch, and she reacted as though he'd said something entirely different. "_SHE'S DEFINITELY MISUNDERSTANDING SOMETHING!_"

I shot Sebastian an exasperated glare, and crawled onto the bed. "Not _those_ kind of toys, Sieglinde!" I said, even though she couldn't understand me. I crossed my legs, and beckoned her onto my lap, turning her so she was leaning against my back. "Here, let me show you a trick!" I pulled out the piece of ribbon I used to tie up my hair, and tied the ends of it together to form a large circle.

Sieglinde's eyes grew wide as I dangled the ribbon around my palms, and then twisted it this way and that between my fingers to make a variety of shapes. She waved at Ciel to come over, and I snickered as the earl reluctantly edged nearer, and pretended to be just as fascinated. Honestly, I would have preferred if he hadn't bothered, because Sieglinde's honest and unabashed awe was more than enough.

At some point, Sebastian disappeared and reappeared with stacks of paper, colour pencils, dolls, and teddy bears. Soon it became less about entertaining Sieglinde, and more about indulging in the child's-play I'd been too poor or too despondent to. In terms of artistic ability, I will say that Sieglinde and I were pretty evenly matched.

At any rate, we played so much that I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up alone on the bed surrounded by the toys and pictures we'd drawn. My hair was a mess, and Sebastian was running his fingers through it and smiling indulgently. "Wake up, darling," he murmured quietly. "We're going out."

"Out?" I repeated dumbly, sitting up when he leaned back, as though drawn by some magnetic force. I yawned and rubbed my eye. "Out where?"

_Out_ turned out to be _outside_. As in the great outdoors, where it was cold, and foggy, and really fucking windy. "This is awful," I sniffed, feeling a tickle at the back of my throat that usually heralded either the start of a cold, or a sore throat.

For once, Ciel didn't berate me for complaining, and even added. "This fog is terrible."

Sebastian, being Sebastian, was dressed normally. "Watch where you walk," he warned us mildly, holding a lantern aloft so that we could see where we were stepping. I was so busy trying to stop my teeth from chattering, that it came as a surprise when I noticed my vision blurring with..._tears...?_

"Young master! Thalia!" I felt a hand on my shoulder, and tried to wipe away the tears, but they just kept coming. My eyes felt itchy and weird, like when you're cutting an onion.

Something moved in the trees ahead of us, and we turned to see a large black shape, with glowing yellow eyes staring right at us. It had a long snout, like a dog, and stood on its hind legs like a person. "_A werewolf?!_" Ciel yelled in shock. The shape took off. "Let's go after it!"

"Wait!" Sebastian grabbed his wrist before Ciel could move. "There is something wrong with this forest," he said. "I have a bad feeling about this. I will go after the werewolf. Both of you, please go back to your rooms."

I sniffed, feeling my nose start to run. "I'd volunteer to fly us back," I said thickly. "But I can barely see anything through these goddamn tears!" Instead, Sebastian picked us both up and ran back to the house. He deposited us onto the balcony of Ciel's room, before disappearing back into the woods.

Ciel coughed beside me, and I quickly herded him to the bed inside, and shut the window behind us to keep the cold and wind out. "Thalia..." Ciel blinked at me, and his eyes widened in horror. "Thalia, you're bleeding!"

"What? I'm not-!" I lifted my hand to my face and stared at my blood smeared fingers. A powerful wave of dizziness overcame me, and I staggered to the left. I looked back at my fingers, and choked back a scream at the sight. My hands had become a hideous shade of reddish-yellow. The skin bubbled with blisters, like a cauldron about to boil over. My vision grew blurrier, and my throat burned. _The curse! _"Ciel!"

He hunched in on himself, coughing into his own disfigured hands. I could see flecks of blood whenever he did, and I knelt on the floor in front of him. The eye-patch slipped off his face, and he stared at me out of terrified eyes. "Tha...lia..."

The window slammed open, and I turned before I could stop myself. Sebastian stood in the entryway, similarly afflicted. "Young master! Thalia!"

The earl turned even more, his movements projected and almost zombie-like. "Se...bas...tian...I-!" He jerked and threw up violently on the ground. I held onto his shoulders, supporting him so he wouldn't fall over, and rubbing his back. My chest felt painfully tight, and I wondered if part of the curse consisted of death by asphyxiation.

"Sieglinde," I wheezed out still. Sebastian picked Ciel up in one arm, and used the other to carry me, and then he rushed us to the Green Witch's bedroom.

He let me down, and banged on the door, shouting for help in fearful German. Finally, the door opened, and a head of long black peered out. When she caught sight of our skin, she snapped awake instantly.

I could feel myself slipping now, even though I still had to half stumble, half be dragged along. A tiny, unconscious part of me envied Ciel for being small enough to be carried. I wanted to sleep so badly, and ignore the blistering pain on my skin.

We went down stairs, spiralling stairs. I heard Sieglinde give an order for our clothes to be removed, but I was too weak to put up much of a fight. I wanted to cry, but I wasn't sure which of the tears were mine in the first place.

Then, I was submerged in water. A much larger part of me wanted to live, and I fought against the hands that held me beneath the water, but they were too strong. I gasped, and inhaled the water. It burned.

My head broke the surface, and I knew I was crying. I was crying, and my chest hurt, and I couldnt breathe. I wanted to throw up, but now someone was holding my mouth open and forcing my chin below the surface so that the water flowed in. I coughed it, spat it out, and they did it again, and again.

"_Stop..._" I pleaded, remembering another time, another place, with other people. Then I heard a voice, calm and soothing. I reached out, and felt another's skin, another body, strong and gentle. I felt the hands that had been so forceful turn sweet, and apologetic, and protective. I clung to them, sobbing now. I clung to them, even as I felt my chest burning for air.

And then I passed out.


	60. Blind and Mute

**Thalia is my most nurturing OC tbh. I own nothing! **

**Blind and Mute**

When I woke up, it was morning. Sebastian was standing beside my bedside, a cool towel in one hand. He smiled when I blinked at him, and stroked my cheek. "Good morning, darling," he said. My eyes followed him as he moved away and pulled the heavy brocade curtains apart. Sunlight streamed into the room, driving away the translucent darkness.

For a moment, I wondered if my memories of the night before had just been a strange dream, until I opened my mouth to ask...and nothing came out.

I tried again. Nothing. Just a thin croak, and an intense burning in my throat. My chest began to clench in panic, and I could feel myself hyperventilating until Sebastian took my hand in his. "Hush, it's alright," he said soothingly. "You simply have a sore throat from venturing outside in the cold. You won't be able to talk for a while."

His explanation calmed my fear, although my heart had yet to return to normal. I reached up and felt the stiff bandage at the side of my neck. A sore throat, huh? Well that was nothing I couldn't handle, but not being able to talk would be a bit more annoying though. I pouted at the thought.

Sebastian laughed at my expression, and I took a better look at him. Whatever cure Sieglinde had brewed up last night seemed to have worked. His skin was no longer blistered and burned, but there were still dull red patches and bumps on his face, and there were strips of gauze on his left cheek. In spite of this, he still looked gorgeous.

I lifted a hand to his bandaged cheek and covered the wound with my palm. Then I caught sight of my hand. It was bandaged up to my elbows, but what skin was visible was similarly covered in pale red and yellow blisters. It suddenly occurred to me what I must look like by comparison. I immediately let my head droop forward, and pulled my hand away.

To my surprise, Sebastian caught my retreating hand and kissed the sensitive centre of my palm. "Human vanity does not suit you," he commented. He had done the same thing when I'd been struck with a cold after the events on that accursed ship.

I smiled tremulously, and shrugged, unable to respond with the appropriate quip. Another kiss to my hand, and then he pulled out a notebook and pencil from his pocket.

"I thought something like this might be the result, so I procured these from Wolfram," he handed them to me, and I blinked at the pencil. Situating it in my hands, I pressed the point to the paper and painstakingly formed the question on my mind into shaky handwriting.

_**Where is Ciel?**_

Sebastian cocked his head when I held up the question. "The young master is still asleep," he told me.

_**Is he alright?**_

"He seems to be perfectly fine, although we won't be able to tell until he wakes up. Your handwriting is atrocious, by the way."

I arched an eyebrow at him, and opened my mouth to reply sarcastically. Then I remembered that I was more or less mute now. _**When did you think I'd have time to learn?**_I scribbled down and held it up with a glare.

"True," he chuckled and rose. "If you feel up to it, the rest of the servants would like to see you. They are all in Ciel's room at the moment."

Once Sebastian had exited the room, I carefully climbed out of bed, wincing at how tender my skin felt. I hobbled over to the mirror and examined the extent of my injuries. _It could be worse_, I told myself firmly as I dressed. I still grabbed a scarf and wrapped it haphazardly around the lower part of my face.

Sebastian sighed when he saw me. "Thalia..." I stared back at him blankly. Not being able to talk meant I couldn't and didn't have to defend myself to anyone. He reached forward after a moment, and carefully retied the scarf, leaving the ends to dangle behind me. Then he nuzzled my forehead. I sank into the affection and exhaled quietly.

Ow, breathing hurt.

I felt the vibrations of his chuckles, and then he spoke huskily. "This would be a perfect time to tell me how much you love me."

My heart jerked, and I pulled back to gape at him. "Tell you _what?!_" I tried to say, but all that came out was a panicked wheeze. The demon smirked tauntingly, and arched an eyebrow as though he was waiting for me to do just that. But I couldn't. Because I was fucking _mute._

Of all the goddamn obstacles!

Another chuckle. "Come. You do still want to see the young master, don't you?"

I grumbled and wheezed all the way to Ciel's room, although those got progressively quieter the closer we got. The other servants_ were_ there, and they reacted with joy when I stepped in. "Thalia!" Mey-Rin crushed me in a hug, bawling loudly. "I was so worried I was!"

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Finny's hug was even more bone-crushing. He put me down when I didn't say anything, and blinked at me worriedly. "Thalia, are you okay?"

"Thalia has a sore throat and has temporarily lost her voice," Sebastian explained, picking up a basin of warm water and a towel. While he went to ask Tanaka about how Ciel had fared during the night, I wandered over to his bedside with Finny. The boy was breathing heavily, and whimpering in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. I placed a hand on his neck to check his breathing

Suddenly, Ciel's eyes snapped open and he awoke with a scream like the damned. One hand shot out, as though trying to keep something at bay. "Young master!" Sebastian raced to his side as the sound began to taper off to a choked moan.

"We're so glad you're alright, young master Ciel," Mey-Rin smiled with relief.

Ciel blinked, but I didn't feel like he could actually see us. "Ci...el...?" He repeated. His hand was trembling. Sebastian reached for it, and he suddenly screamed again and lashed out with more force than I'd ever seen him use. He screamed, and scrambled away from Sebastian, clutching tight to Finny. "_Ciel doesn't want pain anymore!_" He started shaking all over. "It's dark...where am I?"

"Young master..." Sebastian reached for Ciel slowly. "What's wrong? It's not dark at all..."

Before he could touch the boy again, Tanaka grabbed his hand. Ciel tried to look in their direction, but his eyes were wide, and unseeing. "Who's there?"

Tanaka shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid the young master's eye is..." he trailed off, and I felt my heart drop.

Ciel was blind.

* * *

oOo

* * *

None of us could take care of him. Ciel clung to Finny, screaming when Sebastian and even I came close to him. In the end, Finny was left to take care of him. I suspected this probably went beyond simple blindness though. Wherever Ciel was in his mind, it wasn't a good place.

As Ciel had ordered Sebastian not to come near him, the demon had to adhere to the order no matter the boy's state of mind. He instructed the servants to return to their normal activities, and that he would consult Sieglinde on what to do. In the meantime, he had some tasks to carry out. These tasks did not include me, which was annoying though understandable.

I decided to explore the manor, working my way up. It wasn't as big as it looked from the outside, as most of the rooms simply had high ceilings. I met Sieglinde tottering out of her room while I was examining a loose stone in one of the corridors. "Thalia!" She sounded relieved, even though I didn't understand anything else that came after that.

I pointed at my throat in response, and shook my head. She seemed to understand, and she frowned sympathetically. "Sebastian?" She asked. I shrugged, because I couldn't tell her where she was.

We stared at each other for a few seconds after that. I assume we were both trying to figure out how to communicate with the other. Finally, she held out her arms in the universal sign to be carried. I grinned and obliged.

Things escalated after that, and Wolfram found us sliding down the newly polished curling staircase banisters with Sieglinde clinging to my back and screaming with laughter. I think we nearly gave the man a heart attack. He jumped out of the way on instinct, and I hit the ground running while Sieglinde called back to him in excited German.

What came next was an impromptu game of hide-and-seek, with Wolfram as the impromptu seeker. Sieglinde dragged me to a huge suitcase in her cupboard just big enough for both of us if we squeezed together. We were giggling so hard, I was almost certain the cupboard itself was moving. Every time one of us would giggle, the other would make an exaggerated shushing motion, which would just cause them to giggle instead.

After about five minutes of hiding, we heard the door of Sieglinde's room open. Footsteps sounded on the ground, and then paused as though contemplating just where we could be. We clapped our hands over our mouths, stifling most of our laughter. The footsteps suddenly sounded much closer, and then the door of the cupboard creaked open.

The suitcase was pulled onto its side, dumping the two of us on the ground. Sebastian blinked down at me, a mix of amusement, affection, and exasperation on his face. I grinned back brightly, maintaining an innocent expression.

Eventually he sighed. "Whatever shall I do with you?" I grinned wider. "At any rate," he turned to Sieglinde and said something to her in German. She quickly stifled her laughter, and tried to put on a serious expression.

With Sieglinde's arms around my neck, Sebastian led us to the dining room. The table had been laid with several trays, and a pot of freshly brewed tea. A second later, Wolfram joined us. He shot me a furious glare, and I quickly looked away and placed the lord in her seat.

Sebastian whipped the cover off the trays while speaking in German, to reveal plates of cakes, biscuits, creams and jams. It all looked so delicious! "Thalia," Sebastian called to me, sounding reproachful. I pouted, but backed away obediently.

Over the food, Sebastian told Sieglinde what had happened with Ciel. The miasma had gotten into his eye, and she couldn't be sure of how well it would heal, or if it would heal at all without getting a look at him. "_The werewolf forest weakens the heart and increases fear,_" she said. "_There might be a reason he's only letting the gardener near him._"

Finny was only 16, still a child by all accounts. The rest of us, even me in spite of my childish behaviour, were all over 18. Ciel was avoiding adults.

"_Das ist, warum__ich sagte Ihnen__nicht__, in den Wald __zu gehen!_"

I jumped when Wolfram slammed his hands down on the table. He lashed forward and grabbed Sebastian by the front of his shirt, his voice becoming louder and more violent. There was even a tinge of desperation.

Sieglinde barked out a command and he snarled but kept silent. After a moment he shoved Sebastian away and stalked back to her side, seemingly more animal than man. I watched him go, and then turned to Sebastian when he spoke again to Sieglinde. She regarded him with muted suspicion and asked him a question. At the end of his response he suddenly dropped to one knee.

Whatever he said after must have pleased her, because her wary expression melted into one of consideration, and then a smile crossed her lips.

* * *

oOo

* * *

_**Did you really just sell yourself to her for Ciel?**_ I held up the words, bolded so that he knew I wasn't alright with the arrangement.

"She asked for both of us," he replied casually as he led me towards the kitchen. I hadn't eaten anything since I'd woken up and I was hungry. "I saw no other way to procure her full assistance."

_**What if she orders you to do something**__** that's bad for the mission?**_I glared up at him. It was difficult to write and walk, and Sebastian was refusing to slow down for me. I finally jumped in front of him so he was forced to stop walking. He did, for about five seconds, the time it took for him to pick me up in his arms.

"That is a troubling thought," Sebastian sighed as we entered the, thankfully empty, kitchen. "But I answer to the young master's instructions alone. As long as her orders are not in direct opposition of them, then all should be well."

I still scowled down at him, and kept scowling as he gently deposited me on the clean counter-top. The scowl disappeared when he returned with a tray of leftover scones and cake. He slid a glove off his unmarked hand and tugged the scarf down to expose my lips. He picked up one of the slices. "She seems especially attached to you," he pressed it between my lips, smearing white frosting across the skin when I didn't open my mouth immediately. When I tried to lift my hands to hold it, Sebastian pushed them back down with his other hand. "I am certain that you can distract her while I'm busy. Keep her out of trouble."

I huffed, and he smiled. Next came a biscuit, and then a jam-covered scone, and then another cake.

Sebastian fed it to me a little slower than he had all the others, giving me time to chew and swallow. This time though, instead of reaching for something else, he kept his fingers close to my lips. They traced the curves, pressing just slightly, enough that my mouth parted just slightly as I let out a shaky exhale.

Another slow caress, and then two of his fingers slipped into my mouth. They were long, strong, and sticky with cake frosting and so, so sweet. I gasped, and they pushed further in. "That's it darling," Sebastian murmured. I squirmed and tried to squeeze my thighs together, but he took a step forward and forced his body between them.

His fingers spread and caught hold of my tongue. I made a helpless noise in the back of my throat, and he chuckled. "I love watching you like this darling," he commented, grinning when my eyes narrowed. "You're so defiant. I love it." I choked out a gasp when he withdrew his fingers, and then whimpered when he leaned in to replace them with his lips. "Everything will be fine, Thalia."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Easier said than done. Ciel was still as volatile as ever by the next morning, and I knew that moping about that would not help matters in the least. I made my way to the kitchen where I was surprised to find three new faces: Grete, Hilde, and Anne. They were supposedly in charge of taking care of Sieglinde and preparing food. Anne looked harmless enough, though her style of dress was a little to...loose for my tastes. Grete seemed like she could be trouble if she tried, but Hilde was the one who made me feel truly wary. There was something sharp about her, and I resolved to avoid her.

Wolfram glared at me when I walked close to him on my way to Snake, but I was aware of his animosity and didn't let it bother me. I opened my mouth to greet him, and then remembered myself. **_Hello Snake_**, I smiled at the quiet snake charmer.

He gave me a tiny smile in return. "_Hello Thalia,_ says Emily," he replied. "_Are you feeling alright?_"

I nodded just as Sebastian walked into the kitchen, and then I scowled underneath the scarf. His scars were gone. His face looked as unblemished and perfect as it did before we came to this place. Oddly enough, no one questioned this miraculous change of appearance, not even Wolfram who had spent a long enough time glaring at Sebastian. Unconsciously, I pulled the edge of the scarf higher to hide more of my scars. The butler clapped his hands together sharply. "Well then, as for today's duties!"

Bard was placed on cooking duty, which he was getting better at so I wasn't as worried. Snake was to polish the silverware, which he didn't look too thrilled about, but then Snake's default expression seemed to be one of dismal apathy. Mey-Rin was to change the linen, and she'd been having less accidents since her glasses had been replaced.

"Finny will take care of the young master," Sebastian finished. Finny cheered until the instructions fully registered, and then he looked panicked. "It can't be helped, you're the only who can take care of him right now. Make him a light breakfast, or if he doesn't want to eat, make him some milk and honey."

"Milk and...honey?" Finny blinked.

"It used to be the best thing to lift his spirits," Sebastian replied. "Thalia and I shall attend to Master Sullivan. Please get to it then."

I watched Sebastian prepare a tray of tea things, and shifted my gaze just a little to the right where Wolfram was snarling and growling at the demon like he wanted to rip his head from his shoulders. He bore it rather well all things considering and, once the tray was ready, he motioned me to follow him to Sieglinde's room where she was still asleep in a large queen-sized bed. I had never been inside her room before. It was large, and the colours were austere shades of black, dark green and purple, but there were childish touches here and there. There were crayon drawings pasted to the walls, and a pink and white rocking horse in the corner. Gold paper stars hung from the ceilings, and I wondered if Wolfram had made them and hung them there for her.

Once she'd finished her tea, Sieglinde scooted over to the edge of the bed so her feet hung over the edge. Hilde approached her with clothes, only for her to demand that she wanted to wear clothes from the outside world. Unfortunately there were no clothes that would fit her part from Ciel's, but she didn't look put off by that. Hilde and Wolfram however, they looked like were about to suffer a shared aneurysm.

Sebastian hummed thoughtfully, and plucked at the corner of Sieglinde's sheets. He asked her for them, and she nodded her assent. The butler stripped the bed easily and left with the dark green sheets, only to return five minutes later with a pretty dress in precisely her size. "Das ist großartig!" Sieglinde sounded delighted by her new outfit, and she did look very nice. Less grand, and more like a child.

"Master Sullivan," Sebastian held out his hand, but to my surprise she tottered over to me and gripped my skirts in excitement while babbling in German. "Well then," Sebastian smirked at me and I flushed beneath the scarf. "It is time for breakfast," he repeated it in German. "Thalia, if you would."

I carefully picked up the little witch, cradling her against my chest. Her arms wrapped around my neck and I couldn't help smiling as I carried her out of the room.


	61. Silence of the Woods

**Silence of the Woods**

During breakfast, Sebastian took it upon himself to teach Sieglinde how to eat with the hundred-and-one different utensils he'd placed around her plate. Even after living with the in the manor for so long, I only knew a couple of them by name, and had no idea how to handle any of them. Rich people could afford to assign duties to even their cutlery and china. When you had no idea where and when your next meal was coming from, you'd happily eat with your toes if it meant not going hungry.

I liked Sieglinde, her childish curiosity and cheer was like a breath of fresh air. Once breakfast was over, Mey-Rin came in to clear up the table. She took in the scene with deceptively sharp eyes behind her glasses, and then tilted her head in question. I shrugged minutely in response.

Sieglinde lifted her arms to be carried as she asked Sebastian something that made Wolfram raise his voice slightly. _I need to learn German. At least a little of it. _"Thalia, if you will."

I was instructed to take her back to her bedroom, where Sebastian and I stood by patiently while Wolfram dragged a small table and chair to the centre of the room. I placed Sieglinde in the chair while Sebastian presumably asked her what she wanted to do. Her response, I gathered, was that she wanted to learn English.

Sebastian stroked his chin thoughtfully, before acquiescing and disappearing only to return with a thick book and a pair of glasses. "I don't have any useful texts apart from this," he handed the book to Sieglinde.

_The Family Physician._ It was a book of English folk remedies, few of which looked vaguely sanitary. Sieglinde gasped in excitement, and quickly began flipping through the pages. She stopped at a picture of a man wrapping a woman's throat with a strip of bacon that had been soaked in oil.

_That's such a terrible waste of bacon._ Apparently overcome with awe, Sieglinde ordered Wolfram to fetch some bacon so that she could try this strange cure herself.

I watched the man leave. While I didn't have any reason to doubt Wolfram's genuine affection for Sieglinde, I had a niggling suspicion that something else was going on here beyond a simple mistrust of outsiders. I don't know, maybe the atmosphere of the place was making me paranoid. It reminded me too much of the village where we'd found Pluto.

My back felt itchy, and I wondered if I had any burns there, which would be strange since it seemed that the only areas with scars were places that had been uncovered.

"Thalia." I turned at the sound of Sebastian's voice. He was smiling, and he had an equally thick book in hand, the title of which was clearly in German. "You will also be learning this morning."

There was no seat for me, so I sank down to my knees, and crossed my legs beneath my skirt. The German words in the book made no sense to me, and conjugating the verbs was even worse, but Sebastian was a good if not incredibly strict teacher. I recalled all the times I'd sat in during Ciel's music lessons, and silently apologised for all my inappropriate giggling.

I frowned in concentration as I formed the letters, and huffed angrily at how wobbly my letters were. They curved and dipped in all the wrong places, and I'm fairly certain I misspelled a bunch of words. Sebastian looked over my shoulder and tutted. "You'll have to do it again."

I scowled at my paper and picked up the pencil again, jabbing it at the paper and accidentally tearing it in the middle. Sebastian brought the cane he was holding down on the back of my hand, not hard, just enough to sting slightly. It barely hurt, but I still cradled the hand to my chest and glared balefully at him.

Sebastian smirked and traced the tip of the cane over my cheek and lips, before using it to tip my chin up. I maintained my glare, painfully aware that Sieglinde was in the room and watching us. The demon tilted his head at me in a considering manner. "You're so bad at following orders darling," he said in English. "You must try harder, or I'll be forced to discipline you elsewhere. Now, from the beginning..."

After another two hours of torture, I was ready to do literally anything else that continue sitting there. My legs and ankles hurt from sitting on the floor for so long, the itch in my back had grown more pronounced, and my head hurt from staring at words, but I could at least write some rudimentary German phrases. Speaking it was impossible at this time, and listening to it was difficult, but I could read and write what I understood.

_**What are we doing?**_I wrote in German, and held it up for Sieglinde to see.

She looked thoughtful, and then she said hesitantly, in a thick German accent, as though testing the fit of the words. "I...want to visit Ciel."

I wondered how Ciel was faring under Finny's care. While I trusted the blonde to take care of Ciel super strength or not, Ciel's episodes seemed to be erratic and could be triggered easily. The main triggers though seemed to be adults in general, Sebastian, and any mentions of his past no matter how vague or seemingly unrelated.

When we reached his room, I could hear Ciel whimpering and screaming through the door. Finny pulled open the door, and Sebastian lifted a finger to his lips to warn him to keep silent.

Finny cut himself off and nodded. "Master Sullivan came to see you!" He told the boy, opening the door wider. I walked as quietly as I could, and carefully sat Sieglinde in the chair beside Ciel's bed.

"Sullivan...?" Ciel's voice was low, hoarse from screaming, and tremulous.

"Yes. How are you?" Sullivan took in the way he'd wrapped himself in his covers, only his eyes visible. "I'm here to change your bandages," she said after Sebastian sent Finny out to clean the dishes.

"Will it hurt?" Ciel asked.

"It will hurt more if I do not."

Ciel said nothing, and then his head emerged from his cocoon. He sat up slowly, back hunched over and head down.

"I will have to touch you. Is that alright?" She asked. Ciel nodded dully, and I watched in shock as he allowed her to pull away the bandages that covered his eye. Instead of screaming and reacting violently like he usually would, sick or not, he just opened his eye and stared at her blankly.

I had never seen Ciel's eye before, although I always imagined it would have something similar to the mark on Sebastian's hand. I'd never thought the mark would be _on_ his eye. It looked like a brand, like someone had stuck one into his eye and left a perfectly shaped mark onto his eye. I thought of the mark on my back and shuddered minutely.

Sebastian was still in the room.

Sieglinde didn't react with more than a cursory stare, and then she began to clean the wounds on his face and arms while commenting on how quickly he was healing. It didn't take long, and Ciel barely spoke except to mumble a quiet _thank you_ once she'd finished. I waited until Sieglinde had packed up the medical equipment, and then picked her up.

"Thank you for tending to the young master," Sebastian said to her once we were out of the room.

"It's fine," she shrugged and then stared at both of us out of narrowed eyes. "Moreover, there is something I would like to confirm. I didn't want to bring this up in front of Wolfram last night, but you two...you're devil's worshippers aren't you?"

At the expressions on our faces, she sniffed. "No need to hide it. Witches were accused of devil worship by the inquisition as well. You both have symbols, you on your hand and Thalia on your back."

_When did she see my back-? Oh._ Last night, when were half drowned in the cure. I was naked. Right, that happened.

Sebastian glanced at me for a moment, and then sighed. "It's a little different from devil worship. When the young master was young he was kidnapped by a certain organisation that practiced devil worship. He was put up as a sacrifice and I met him during the ritual."

"That's stupid! There's no way a bunch of amateurs could summon a demon!"

"That's...not always the case..."

"It's impossible!" Sieglinde insisted stubbornly. "If it fails, you'll be cursed by the demon!"

Sebastian stared at her, and this was honestly amusing because she was literally telling a demon that his existence on this plane was impossible. "I see..."

Sieglinde nodded with a disgusted huff. "So Ciel was forced to take the symbol to his eye. How cruel! What about you? Were you both sacrifices as well?" Sebastian began to answer, but she held up her hand to stop him. "No, it's a sad story right? I won't force it out of you."

_He's the demon that was summoned, _I thought as loudly as I could and why was this inability to speak suddenly making me feel like the biggest chatterbox in existence? As though he could hear my thoughts, Sebastian turned to stare at me. He let his eyes flash red over Sieglinde's head, and I stumbled briefly.

"Do the others know?" Sieglinde asked me, and I shook my head. The young witch nodded. "Then I too will keep your secret."

Everyone gathered in the dining room to hear Sieglinde's verdict. "Ciel's wounds are healing well," she said. "Emotionally he is terrible, but he doesn't seem to be suffering any memory loss."

"Oh, will his eyes be alright?" Mey-Rin fretted.

"His eyes were unhurt. His blindness seems to be a psychological effect caused by the shock. He will be fine as long as his mind and body heal." Everyone heaved a sigh of relief at that. None of this was permanent. Ciel would get better! "In any case," Sieglinde said. "He should get proper nutrition and rest. He should be able to move soon if he does."

Bard beamed happily at that bit of news. "We should head back to the manor as soon as he can move around! I'm sure the familiarity would do him good!"

"Y-Yes, that...would probably be for the best..." Sieglinde drooped slightly. The servants began to talk excitedly about what they could do to make Ciel feel better and hasten his recovery, which mostly involved meat and sweet foods. Leaving Sieglinde to her reading, we relocated to the kitchen to begin making preparations.

While I sliced up the vegetables, I heard Sebastian hiss in disappointment. "We're out of white wine for cooking," he told Wolfram.

"The wine cellar is all the way down the stairs, all the way back on the right," the man replied without looking at him, too focused on measuring out the ingredients.

"Understood." Sebastian disappeared into the cellar, taking Snake with him. I thought nothing of it for about four minutes, when he still hadn't come back. I could see Wolfram getting suspicious, he kept glancing at the door of the cellar.

Wolfram drew his lips into a snarl and marched into the cellar, and I cursed quietly. _Why doesn't being a Mate include being able to broadcast emotions?_ I screamed internally. What was Sebastian doing down there anyway?

Sebastian and Snake returned after, no white wine in sight and missing a snake, and Wolfram appeared several seconds after them. He shoved a bottle of wine at Sebastian, harder than necessary, and stormed back to his post. Sebastian accepted the bottle with a charming smile, and made his way back to where he'd been working. As he passed me, he lowered his voice and grinned.

"_Thank you_."

oOo

By the time dinner was ready the itch that I'd been feeling on my back had grown more pronounced. While before it had felt like being stroked gently with a feather duster, now it felt like being stroked gently with a brush made of needles.

When I was finished with my chores, I sat with my back against the rough stone wall of the hallway outside Ciel's room, trying to scratch the area without being too obvious about what I was doing. The itch seemed to be coming from below my skin, but the friction against the skin was helping. I had purloined several apples from the kitchen, and was using my knife to peel and slice one. I wanted so badly to be able to go inside, but I was afraid to trigger another panic attack. What if Ciel didn't see me as me, but saw his aunt, or worse, that angel?

I sighed and reached to scratch my back with the blade of my knife. God what was this awful _itch?_ Maybe I should have a look at myself...

Before I could leave for my room, there was a huge crash from inside Ciel's room, like glass shattering. Someone yelled. That was Finny! I threw the door open and wheezed out a scream.

There was a werewolf in the room! A huge, hulking black beast with bright yellow eyes and sharp claws that had left a gash on Finny's back. The boy kicked back with considerable strength, sending the werewolf flying back. I quickly reacted, stabbing the creature in the side with the knife in my hand. It snarled and tried to claw at me, but I managed to dodge the swipe.

I could hear footsteps and voices coming from down the corridor. The wolf, realising that it would soon be outnumbered, snarled and leaped out from the shattered open window. "What happened!?" Sebastian took in the scene of carnage with wide eyes, quickly followed by the servants and Wolfram.

"The werewolf came!" Finny lifted himself off Ciel, who was thankfully unharmed if violently shaken up. "He left via the window!"

Bard wanted to go after the creature immediately, but was warned off by Wolfram. "The creature emits miasma, it would be dangerous to go after it," Sebastian translated. "We should fetch the young lady, at any rate, and let her know what happened."

There was no need for that though, as Sieglinde appeared just a few moments later. She was horrified to hear what had happened. She gritted her teeth. "Wolfram, prepare for the Green Witch's Service," she ordered, and he bowed and left. Sieglinde turned to leave as well, wearing an expression of grim determination that seemed too old to be on her face. "I am the Green Witch," she said firmly. "And I _will_ protect this village no matter what!"

She left, and the rest of us were left in confused silence, at least until Ciel began to wail and buried himself back under his covers. _This Ciel is annoying and pitiful,_ I sighed_. I'm sorry for ever complaining that I wanted him to be more childlike and helpless. _

_**We should clean up and bandage any wounds,**_I tapped Finny and held up the note. There were bandages in the corner, and I left Sebastian to take care of Finny's injuries while the other servants tried to coax Ciel out from under the covers while he screamed for them to shut up and leave him alone.

"_I hate this place! I want to go home!_"

It took a while, but we were finally able to get him to fall asleep. All the screaming and crying probably exhausted him. "How will we get him back to normal?" Bard groaned.

"An eye for an eye is what they say," Sebastian said thoughtfully. "Should be shock him once more?"

"Please don't," Tanaka said, drawing our attention. "Rest is best for wounds of the heart, and the young master must be in turmoil. At times like this we must not lose our heads or rush into things, but watch over the young master."

Sebastian grimaced, and even I didn't feel like being patient anymore. This was getting strange, and I didn't like what had happened to Ciel. It reminded me of when he'd fallen ill in the circus, but at least then we'd known what was wrong with him. Bard huffed, chewing angrily on an unlit cigarette. "What kind of miasma would turn the young master to this?"

Footsteps alerted us to someone's presence, and Wolfram appeared carrying Sieglinde. She looked tired, no, drained, and sad. "We're going to the village gathering about the werewolf incident," she said quietly.

They left, but before they did Wolfram leaned over to hiss a warning at Sebastian. He turned to watch them go, and then sighed.

"Since this is beyond my area of expertise," he said grudgingly. "Just this once, we will sit and wait."


	62. The Knife and the Demon

**Thalia's handwriting and spelling are awful btw, but the FF format doesn't allow for strikethroughs to show how many spelling mistakes she makes. **

**Also this chapter includes mentions of suicide. Also I've decided that Thalia is a Hufflepuff for reasons.**

**The Knife and the Demon**

Sebastian was getting impatient. For a creature that was usually so calm and composed, seeing him so agitated was scary.

It wasn't obvious though. Oh he behaved the same to the servants and to Sieglinde, but his eyes always seemed half-narrowed like he was glaring at something unseen, and he always seemed to be listening for something no one else could hear. It worried me.

It worried me because he took out quite a bit of his impatience on me. He wasn't cruel, but sometimes when I was alone he would drag me into a corner, pin me in place like some helpless butterfly, and take his fill. His hands would roam, up and down, and he would say the _worst_ things. The _filthiest_. He would press his mouth against my ear, murmur against my throat and collar before biting hard enough to leave red marks. As though by dominating me, he could maintain some semblance of control over the situation.

As strange as it sounds, I didn't mind being a way for him to release tension, but it still scared me that things were this bad.

We stood outside Ciel's room, listening to the pained groans. I sighed lowly from within his arms and lifted my head so I could look up at him. He hummed quietly and lifted his head to look back at me. His eyes were darkened by the shadows of the hallway. "Yes, Thalia?"

I pulled the scarf down and tilted my face upwards in a silent request. His lips curved in a tiny smirk. "Of course, darling."

In all honesty, I tried to keep the kiss as sweet and caring as I humanly could, but a human versus a demon was no competition, and things began to spiral out of my control very quickly. Sebastian was a second away from unbuttoning my shirt when Snake appeared. "Black! Red!" _Oh thank goodness._ "Oscar came back, _says Goethe_!"

"What did he find?" Sebastian queried, turning to give his attention to Snake.

The snake hissed excitedly. "An absolute scoop! _Says Oscar._"

Apparently when Sebastian and Snake had gone down into the basement 'searching' for wine, they'd actually been looking for information. When Wolfram had found them, they'd sent Oscar the snake on ahead to do the scouting, and he'd found something surprising.

"_The werewolves are in the castle basement?!_" Bard and Mey-Rin screeched in shock. "So Master Sullivan is in league with the werewolves?!"

Apparently Oscar had seen Master Sullivan surrounded by werewolves in the basement doing...something. Snake's don't have that great a memory. "But she was so worried for the young master, she was!" Mey-Rin looked shaken. "That didn't seem fake!"

Sebastian looked thoughtful. "She also seemed shaken when the villagers were attacked," he noted. "She might not want the werewolves to attack people."

_**Maybe she was trying to appease the werewolves in some way?**_I held up my pad and Bard nodded attentively, and placed an unlit cigarette in his mouth. "So...shouldn't we check out the basement now?" He suggested. "They've gone out, so the coast should be clear." There was a quiet hum of agreement all round.

"When we opened the hidden door before," Snake started, drawing our attention. "There was some kind of charm on the entrance. There might me something like magic working from it to warn of intruders. That's why that guy came flying in, _says Oscar._"

_Or he came flying in because two suspicious foreigners went into the dungeon with a secret door, but okay let's go with magic._ Still, there might be some kind of warning system in place to alert Wolfram and the women to anyone intruding. Sebastian flicked out his pocket-watch and frowned at the glass face.

"Well...I don't mind if there are some contraptions, so..." he snapped it shut and began to leave, calling over his shoulder, "When Wolfram shows up, could you all keep him at bay for a while?"

_What? _"W-What will you be doing?" Mey-Rin called after him.

Sebastian smirked over his shoulder. "How could I be the Phantomhive Butler if I couldn't sneak in unnoticed?" And then he was gone, and it was just the rest of us staring after him, and then turning to stare at each other. I quickly scribbled down something.

_**I can't talk. How do I distract Wolfram?**_I quickly added something to the page. _**None of you understand German.**_

Bard groaned and folded his arms across his chest. "You're right. At least Finny would understand a little, but he needs to watch the young master. I guess for now you should probably help Snake with the bread while we think of what to do."

We didn't have much time to think though, because approximately twenty seconds later, we heard the sound of heavy footfall and Wolfram appeared in the doorway, followed by the three women whose names I'd forgotten. Except Hilde, because she was the scariest, but the others weren't so terrifying, which was probably why Oscar decided to be our much-needed 'distraction' by attacking Anne.

The basket of turnips she'd been carrying fell to the ground as she screamed loudly, though her screams turned to terrified whimpers when the snake decided to _dive down her fucking cleavage are you kidding me?_

Before this turned into some weird penny dreadful, I clamped a hand over her mouth to stem the noises. With my other hand, I slowly reached under her voluminous skirt and carefully pulled out the snake. Anne slumped over, apparently worn out by the ordeal, and I couldn't blame her. I handed the snake to Snake with an annoyed huff.

"Oh my," Sebastian chose that very moment to return. "It seems our servants have caused some trouble. My apologies, it seems Oscar needs to cool his head outside. Come along, Snake."

I watched the two of them leave, and then turned back to Anne. She still looked a bit peaky, so I offered up the kindest smile I could under the circumstances, and patted her on the shoulder. As I did though, my fingers and the back of my hand began to itch. Perturbed, I pulled back, but maintained the smile until she looked away and the other women escorted her away.

_Why do I keep itching?_ I studied my hand curiously, and scratched, but that only seemed to make it worse so I forced myself to stop. I noticed Wolfram watching me from the corner of my eye, and wondered what he'd said to Sebastian and Snake when they'd left.

I left the kitchen once I was done, and wandered towards Ciel's room, taking my time as I passed through the hallways. I scratched my am thoughtlessly. _I wonder if it's possible to be allergic to magic,_ the thought made me want to laugh, until I looked down at my skin and saw how red it had become.

Humans were allergic to foods and chemicals, not magic, and wasn't magic just a blanket term for things we didn't yet understand? Therefore, this _magic_ must be some kind of chemical. A poison, most likely a gas one that could be pumped into the air. One that would only affect humans and animals, but not plants.

Now I knew the basic poisons, belladonna, foxglove, cyanide and lead, but I wasn't familiar with many gas potions, and I knew none that produced the effects I'd seen and suffered. However, I did know what foods I was allergic to, and suddenly my symptoms seemed much too familiar.

_I need to find Sebastian! _I hurried down the hallway to Ciel's room, and saw Finny lying on the ground outside the door. He looked shellshocked."Thalia!" He looked scared. "Sebastian came! I-I was going all out, but he didn't even flinch! _He didn't even flinch!_ He looked so angry, Thalia, _what if he hurts the young master?_"

_I-If he what? _My thoughts swirled in my head as I stared at Finny in shock. _What if he hurts Ciel? He's been so impatient. Snappy. Cold. Angry. What if he doesn't care anymore? Ciel is my family. What if he hurts him? __**What if he hurts Ciel? What if he's already hurt him? What if he's already dead?**_

_**Go fetch Bard, Mey-Rin and Snake. **_Finny stared down at the note, and then back at me, before swallowing and scrambling away to do as I'd said. Once he was gone, I pulled out my knife and broke through the lock on the door. I hardly noticed my wings flare out defensively when I screeched. "_SEBASTIAN!_"

I hadn't been prepared for the scene I saw. The room looked like a pit from hell, with black smoke and ink covering the walls and furniture, and in the middle of it all was a humanoid black mass engulfing my cousin. Dark red eyes gazed at me from the blackness, and underneath them was a sharp white smile.

"Darling, why didn't you stay outside?" He cooed, and it sickened me that he sounded the same. I think this was the first time I fully had to confront the fact that Sebastian wasn't human. Oh he looked the part, he made such a beautiful human, but he wasn't, and I'd given the monster my heart. It was too late to take it back.

"Leave Ciel alone," I croaked, and my throat burned with the effort. "_Leave my cousin alone you monster!_"

"He's reneging on his part of the bargain, my love," he replied easily. "I am only doing what is expected. Don't take it so personally, darling." I think he reached for me with one of the black tendrils, but somehow I was already at his throat, and I hated how calmly he gazed down at me even as I continued to scream.

"_Leave Ciel alone!_" I screamed back, the words a shrill, hysterical croak. "_Leave him alone, I swear to God I'll kill you! I'll kill you AND I'LL KILL MYSELF I SWEAR I WILL!_" His eyes narrowed then. "_I WON'T LIVE LIKE THIS! I CAN'T! I..._" I was sobbing so hard I couldn't hardly see straight, but I gripped the knife tight. I knew I couldn't kill Sebastian. I'd seen him suffer horribly debilitating blows at the hands of much more powerful creatures, but I could hurt him.

If I didn't have Ciel...then I had nothing. The story would be over too quickly, and with an unsatisfying end. I had resigned myself to wait for Ciel's revenge, had always known that Sebastian would devour his soul at some point, and I'd settled for that because that had been what I'd known. That was the story I'd walked into.

Not this.

Never this.

Sequels were never as good as the original, so I could end myself along with the story. I could hurt Sebastian the way he was going to hurt me. I could take away the one thing he was supposed to care for to the best of his abilities: me.

He snarled at me. "You wouldn't dare."

Oh but I would, and then I heard Ciel shout. "_Sebastian!_" My head snapped up in shock. "Sebastian you bastard, _let me go right now! That's an order!_"

Immediately the tendrils began to uncoil from the room and from Ciel as the boy thrashed on the bed. "Dammit, I've never had such a terrible wake-up call!" He snapped, turning to glare at Sebastian, though he looked surprised to see me, and even more surprised to see me with a knife to Sebastian's throat. "What did you do?"

Before he could respond, I'd dropped everything and tackled him in a hug. "Ciel!"

"Wha-!? Let go of me-!"

"Shut up! Shut the _fuck up!_" I croaked, and hugged him tighter, sobbing into his hair.

He sighed and probably glared at Sebastian over my shoulder. "What did you do to her _now?_"

"Do excuse our behaviour," Sebastian replied. "You were tossing and turning so badly that I was forced to take...extreme measures," he knelt by the side of the bed. "Good morning, young master."

He hissed derisively, and eyed Sebastian over my shoulder. "You really just tried to eat me, didn't you?"

"No, no," the demon smiled sweetly from the floor. "I was only 90% serious." I tightened my grip on Ciel for my own comfort. God, was I shaking? My throat hurt so badly, I could hardly manage more sobs. "Tanaka told me not to take any drastic measures, so I held off for a bit. However you kept carrying on like a baby..."

"So you decided to eat me?" He huffed and pulled out of my hold. "Damn demon."

"Well I am a demon and a butler," Sebastian smirked back, and I suddenly couldn't bear to be around either of them. Ciel was fine now. The adrenaline that had been racing through me now had nowhere to go, and now I just felt sick and tired of everything. I needed to be alone.

I walked over to the window as Ciel was ordering Sebastian to let the other servants. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"Nowhere," I replied coldly, shoving the curtains and glass aside. The wind was cold, freezing more like it, but I didn't care. "By the way, it's mustard." With that, I scrambled out of the window and half flew, half crawled up the ivy-and-stone walls to the roof.

And I cried. I cried quietly, alone by myself. I could hear the sound of laughter from the room as Ciel downplayed their fears and spun some elaborate lie to hide what had really happened, what had almost happened just a few moments ago.

I curled my wings around my body and pretended like I could hide from everything that had happened, if just for a while.

**My baby is too smol and sensitive for all these heartbreaks istg BE KIND TO HER GODDAMMIT.**

**Also, yeah Thalia is allergic to mustard, which can cause atopic dermatitis (a.k.a. eczema) on places like the hands and back in adults (as well as some other patches), so props to anyone who guessed that.**


	63. That Maid, Affectionate

**NOW WE'LL BE VENTURING INTO THE LIME TERRITORY MOTHERFUCKERS. GET READY FOR MY INCREDIBLE EROTIC WRITING SKILLS AND IMPLIED SEXUAL CONTENT lmao jk enjoy ya'll.**

**That Maid, Affectionate**

"I've hurt you again." Fingers with sharp claws ran over Thalia's back, the crushed peppermint and basil scenting the air. She didn't respond, she didn't need to, the demon already knew the answer. One of his claws brushed the top of her ear and she shivered. "Do you hate me now?"

Thalia shook her head slowly. Her thoughts had been borne of fear, anger, and confusion, but she knew now that even if Sebastian had killed Ciel. Even if the demon had taken his soul at that moment...she would have done nothing.

She would have screamed, railed against him and cried, but ultimately...she would have fallen into him and clung as helplessly as she always did. She was helpless against him, she had been for a very long time.

A clawed hand trailed over her shoulder and down her arm. She stared at the inky black limb, tendrils of dark miasma curling from it in wisps. He took her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together. She could feel him against her back and where the palm of his hand rested against her neck. In this form, he didn't feel like the living warmth she was used to. He felt inhumane and cool, like marble.

She had yet to look at his face, and she held her breath as he lifted her arm up and pressed a cold kiss to the back of her hand. She shivered again, her heart picking up speed. She was certain he could hear the quick stutter of her pulse, see it under the skin of her neck.

When he spoke, he spoke against the skin of her hand. "I wouldn't have let you," he told her. _I wouldn't have let myself. _"My kind do not feel the way humans feel. We cannot lie, and we cannot love." He lifted her arm higher and kissed the delicate underside of her wrist, feeling the way her blood thrummed underneath. "But for you, my darling, I think I can understand why humans do such illogical things in the name of something so equally illogical."

He lowered her arm. With her eyes closed, Thalia twisted around to face him. Kneeling on the softness of the bed, on either side of his legs, she rested her other hand on his shoulder. Then, slowly, she opened her eyes.

Glowing red eyes with slits for pupils and a mouth of sharp carnivorous teeth set in a black humanoid expanse. The same miasma coiled around the body and her hands, tiny caresses that seemed chillingly affectionate.

Thalia knew that promising yourself to a monster was never a good choice. It was romantic to think of, she had seen enough penny dreadfuls to know how much the thought appealed to many women and even men. It was warped and flattering, the idea of somehow having the love and admiration of a being that hated everything. However, it wasn't wise.

Love was rarely ever wise though. Love was many things, a maelstrom, a disaster, a bed of roses, a terrible lie, but love was hardly ever wise. Thalia loved too quick and too hard, and she had chosen to love Sebastian, a demon.

The woman placed both of her palms against his cheeks, feeling the cold smoothness, and kissed him. Arms wrapped around her waist an impossible amount of times, holding her in place as the being devoured her.

He took his time, tasting her deeply. At some point her eyes must have slipped shut because all she could do was listen and feel. Listen to the slick sounds of tongues pressing together, the shallow gasps that came from somewhere in her throat, feel the possessive way he touched her, running clawed fingers up and down the thin white material of her nightclothes. He was so close to rending them, she could tell, so close to sliding his hands down, down, to the hem, and then up bare skin.

Thalia squirmed on his lap, breath escaping her in short gasps and little moans that made the beast beneath her hum with pleasure. His Mate enjoyed his touch. Her skin was so sensitive, her body so unused to feeling pleasure. He had lived many years, he could give her pleasure greater than any human could. He let his claws drag against the tender skin of her thighs, leaving angry red trails in their wake. Her hips made a little aborted movement, but her position allowed no leverage. She could do nothing but sit there and take it. Could do nothing but curl closer, ache for his touch.

He left her mouth and dragged the points of his canines down the slender curve of her neck. She clung to him, trembling and whimpering. Between her legs she was aching, he could tell. She wanted him. Needed him. He went lower, dragged tongue and teeth over her collarbones, over the swell of one of her breasts. Her clothes were so thin, he could see the little pink points of her nipples through the material. He grazed a sharp canine over the left one, tasted it again and again while she whimpered and cried out in pleasure.

The demon flashed his eyes in the dimness and slid a hand over the black mark that branded her back. Thalia gasped out, shaking, hips jerking, wet and dripping with desire. Sebastian held her through it.

* * *

oOo

* * *

**Thalia's POV**

Later that night, I and the servants made plans to leave the village. Sebastian had received confirmation of the contents of the 'curse'. The symbols looked complicated, but I only knew it in its simplest form: mustard.

Mustard was rare and expensive, usually it was just powder and yellow food colouring, and I had only had the spice once in my whole life. That was when I'd learned that I was very allergic to it, and skin exposure led to painful rashes. Apparently, if treated, it could be converted into an incredibly dangerous and invisible gas which caused the so-called curse.

I tugged on my boots and swept my hair out of my face. It had grown out again, but I had gotten used to keeping it short. Just then there was a knock at my door. When I opened the door, Sebastian was standing outside in all his human-esque glory. "Are you ready, my dear?" He knew that I was.

Ciel was dressed and ready when Sebastian returned with me. When he caught sight of me, he frowned just slightly, and narrowed his eyes. Sometimes I don't know how Ciel feels about me or my actions. I get the feeling he hates the way I worry, not because he doesn't like making me feel that way, but because he sees it as a bother. He can't stop me though. Not even his disdain would be enough to stop me from worrying.

Outside was cold, and Sieglinde's room was high up. Balancing Ciel in the crook of his right arm, and hooking his left around my waist, Sebastian leaped up to the ledge of Sieglinde's bedroom window. He knocked, one, two, three times in quick succession. Then another three times to be sure. I could hear the rustle of bedcovers, and then the sound of footsteps interspersed with the sound of something being dragged. Then the curtains were being drawn back.

"Good evening Master Sullivan," Sebastian greeted cordially. Sieglinde stared up at us, balancing on her crutches – the dragging I had heard. Her eyes were wide with shock, she probably thought she was still dreaming.

After a moment of staring, Sieglinde yanked open the windows. "H-How did you get up here!?"

Ciel chuckled as Sebastian stepped into the room and put us down. "Why are you so surprised?" He asked. "You're a witch that flies through the air on a broom, aren't you?"

She perked up happily at the sight of him. "Ciel! You're back to normal!"

"Yes," he replied, feigning humility. "I wanted to thank you before we left."

Sieglinde blinked. "Thank...me...?" I could see the wheels turning in her head, and I knew her response was going to be wildly inappropriate. "Oh, I see! This is that _thanking with your body_ thing that I've read so much about!" She leered. "I'll be eating things of your naked body and such, am I right?"

_What books are they letting this child read?_ Sebastian covered Ciel's mouth before the boy could explode even further. "Rather than that," he smiled. "We have prepared the thing you want most int he world."

A chance to visit the outside world. Her eyes widened, growing huge and longing. "The outside world?" She repeated, looking from Ciel to Sebastian and myself.

"Yes," Sebastian replied. "You can gain knowledge and experiences that you would never be able to if you stay here. So, how about it?"

She began to stutter, confused and unsure but oh so yearning. "B-But I'm the Green Witch...the village laws won't..."

Ciel nodded acquiescingly, turning around. "I see, it can't be helped then. Sorry to spring this on you. We'll be going now, and by morning this will be just a dream. Thank you," Ciel glanced over his shoulder at her with a sweet smile. "_Friend._"

For a moment, Sieglinde looked lost and young and I wanted to reach for her and bring her with us regardless of anything else. Suddenly she jerked forward and grabbed onto Ciel's cloak, stopping him. "Wait!" She choked out. "I-I'll come! I'll come with you! I want to know many more things!"

I picked up the smaller girl, holding her tightly while Sebastian spoke behind me. "Well then, young lady, a debutante should be dressed before she makes an appearance." Sieglinde was dressed once again in her typical Green Witch clothes, leaving her crutches behind as I carried her again. "Well then. Thalia?"

Sieglinde gaped in awe at my wings, and yelped when I hopped out through the open window. I hovered for a moment, waiting for Sebastian to pick Ciel up as well, and then dropped down to the ground many metres below. The little witch twisted her head around to take a closer look at them. "Thalia, I didn't know you were an angel!"

I smiled and shrugged, still unable to talk. My voice seemed to have taken an awful beating, otherwise I would have told her that these wings weren't the product of fate or luck. I got the feeling that she wouldn't have believed me anyway.

Instead of leaving the village immediately, we walked back into the castle, down into the cellar. Sieglinde's nervous frown grew the further down we went. "Hey...where are we going? We're just heading deeper into the Green Castle."

Ciel looked over his shoulder with a smile. "The _outside world_ is right over here," he said. We turned a corner, revealing the large section of the brick wall that Sebastian had pulled away. Sieglinde looked worried now, but Sebastian hushed her with a teasing smile.

Through the hole in the wall, through a beautiful little room, and down an elevator shaped like a birdcage, until we reached a room that I had never seen before, but that Ciel and Sebastian seemed to have. There were markings on the ground, glowing symbols in a circle. In the centre of that was a little altar with a wand, the tip of which glowed the same colour as the markings.

"Is this the magic circle?" Sebastian asked Sieglinde. She didn't answer, and looked away. "_The duty of the Green Witch _is to create the circle, is it not?"

She jerked in my arms and stared at him in shock. "How did you know that?!"

"A little snake told me," he smiled back.

"You can speak with snakes?" She gasped. "Are you a warlock?"

"No," his smile widened. "I am simply one hell of a butler." _Oh my god where is my voice when I need it? _I settled for a very pointed glare in his direction, which he returned with a beatific smile. "Something wrong, Thalia?"

Sieglinde was squirming with excitement. "Ah, you have such an amazing talent! You and Thalia will surely have great offspring!" I choked and very nearly dropped her while Sebastian looked on cheerily as though she hadn't just implied what she'd implied.

"Oi, don't give them any ideas!" Ciel snapped, interrupting this train wreck and gaining Sieglinde's attention. "What is the duty of the Green Witch? Is it connected to the fact that you can't go outside?"

The little witch looked sad, and then she sighed. "I think I told you that werewolves are clad in miasma, an evil magic that harms human beings..."

A long time ago, she told us, there was a lot of that miasma in the air. It was dangerous, yes, but it was like oxygen to monsters and the source of magic. However, as more and more humans were born and prospered, this miasma was lost. According to her, the werewolves had struck a deal with the village. If the Green Witch could create a constant source of miasma, then they would protect the village in return.

She was not the first, she said, but she was the one who had finally done it. She had created the formula for the 'ultimate magic' and had given it to them.

"Any human who came in contact with it would probably die instantly," she remarked at the end of her explanation. "The miasma you encountered in the forest was just the dregs of ancient formulas."

We glanced at each other. Sebastian smirked. "So that's the history you were taught?" He strode into the circle, ignoring Sieglinde's cries for him to stop, he didn't know what he was doing, that if anyone besides the Green Witch touched the altar they would-!

She trailed off as Sebastian placed his hands on the altar and pushed, revealing a hole underneath. Inside the shallow hole was a large brass lever. "What happens if someone touches it?" He asked her conversationally.

"It...it will bring misfortune..." her voice sounded smaller now. Sebastian grasped the lever and pulled. There was the sound of rocks grinding, of metal shifting. He ground shook, and then a section of the wall behind us separated to reveal a large metal door with several complicated locks, dials and buttons. "W-What is this?"

"This, Master Sullivan, is the entrance to the real _outside world_," Ciel told her. The smile was gone now. "You can still go back if you wish."

I was proud when she seemed to steel herself and forge forward. It wouldn't make the revelation any easier though.

The door was an elevator, the sudden shift between the gothic, medieval room and the clearly above-par engineering was slightly jarring. Sebastian pressed the down button, and we descended to floor B4.

Floor B4 was a dark corridor of rooms. As we passed through, Ciel gestured for me to bring Sieglinde over to step into one of the rooms. Inside was what looked like some kind of futuristic war room. Screens flashed and mechanical beeps sounded filled the interior walls. In the middle of the room was a large table with papers and what looked like maps.

"So many flashing pictures...is this some kind of new magic circle," she wondered, clinging tighter to me. The largest screen was on the opposite, and it seemed to be showing a map. There were dots on that map, all numbered, and some moving.

Sebastian identified the dots as the villagers; every one of them was being tracked somehow. He looked excited by this knowledge. "Humans have very interesting ideas!"

"What!?" Ciel yelled. "How could that be possible? Is it the amulets?" All of the women in the village had amulets, and even we'd been given amulets under the guise of protection. Sebastian had been correct in telling me to remove mine before we'd left. How was any of this possible? There was something violent and disconcertingly futuristic about the situation.

Sieglinde looked angry and confused. "T-That can't be! Those amulets were prepared by the elders after offering a special prayer on the night of the full moon and-_mmph!_"

Sebastian clapped his hand over her mouth, and quickly pulled the three of us behind one of the blinking metal machines. There was someone coming. I could hear footsteps and impatient voices, one of which was familiar. "Let's go," Ciel ordered.

The only way out was through another door. Behind that door was a room filled with pipes and tanks. There were so many tanks and canisters lining the walls and floor. The air felt hot and damp with steam, and there was a faint smell in the air that prickled the inside of my nose. It looked like a factory, like the inside of the workhouses.

"There's an elevator here too," Ciel walked over to one of the walls where there was indeed another metal door, but before we reached it we heard another sound. It was coming from the other side of the room. Ducking down behind the canisters, we peered out.

It was the old witch, the one with the melted features and shrill voice. She was addressing a crowd of wolves, all with glowing eyes and snarling jaws. The witch was holding something up, and at the sight of it the wolves all roared with militant glee.

I was so shocked that I didn't realise that my grip had slackened until Sieglinde scrambled out of my arms, knocking over one of the canisters. Immediately, all eyes in the hall turned to us. Someone screamed something in German and the wolves began to rush towards us.

However, instead of immediately trying to rend the little girl to pieces, they crowded around her and began to mollycoddle her, searching her for bruises. Sieglinde was confused, _I _was confused. I had many questions, most of which were answered when Sebastian sliced down the face of the wolf. For a minutes, I wondered if he'd killed it, and whether that was a good thing or not.

"What do you think, Lady Sullivan?" The demon asked, knife in hand as the pieces fell apart. "The _outside world _is so _full _of surprises, isn't it?"

There was no wolf there, just a normal, human man wearing a fantastic costume. The mood of the room had changed so quickly. Ciel picked up the fallen mask to study. "He was hiding a gas mask inside the snout," he noted. "This is quite an elaborate farce. The werewolves were just ordinary men in costumes, and the miasma is just a chemical weapon created in this factory! It's poisonous gas!"

I don't know what it's like to have your whole life ripped away, but I can imagine it would feel very much like the most painful of betrayals. There were tears dripping down her face, but I dong think Sieglinde knew she was crying. "Then what about the magic...the magic I created?"

That was when the older witch spoke. I don't know what she said word for word. I still didn't speak German even though Sieglinde had picked it up after a few lessons. I do know what Sebastian told me later, much later, but the events as they unfolded were not something I liked to think about.

It seems as though most of my life is beginning to feel like that.

**Maybe I'll write a lemon, maybe I'll continue cockblocking all of u, who knows, life is random that way and writer's block is awful lmao anyway please review!**


	64. Escape the Compound

**I tried to write a fanfiction for Diabolik Lovers but I had to stop because istg that anime was making me so anxious it's so abusive and awful and I would never subject anyone to that. How is that supposed to be romantic? Like I know it's horror but at least when we watch horror we know we're supposed to think "wow that's fucked up", but this is supposed to be some kind of ideal romance? I just...I literally cannot.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. I didn't mean to rant earlier, I was just so freaked out.**

**Update: Omfg I did not expect the positive response I got to the crossover idea! I will write it definitely, I put up a poll on my profile so please check it out. Special thanks to GaarasMyBoyzz for the idea she suggested!**

**Escape the Compound**

Sieglinde Sullivan had lived in the village of Wolfs-Schlucht all her life.

For as long as she'd lived, for as long as she'd been old enough to comprehend the words, she'd been told that she was the Green Witch. She was the only one capable of keeping the village safe from the wolves that prowled the forests.

When she got a little older, the soft bones of her feet were broken and bent, and folded into dainty little shoes. The pain had been horrifying, but the ladies that attended her hummed soothingly, and told her that this was something she had to bear. It was a part of the sacrifice she had to bear as a descendant of original the Green Witch, and one of the duties she had as the current.

So she did. She bore the pain, the loneliness, the expectations placed on her by the villagers. Time passed and she even learned to love the role. As long as she was helping the people around her, then she was fine. That was what she told herself every day, even as she stared out the window at the horizon over the trees.

_The Ultimate Magic_, the Elder Witch would tell her time and time again. _Are you done brewing it?_ The more she asked, the more she began to wonder what would happen when she _did _finish the source of miasma, until her childlike began to associate the completion of the magic with being able to leave the village.

She had lived for nine years with the one narrative, only to have it flipped entirely on its head in a matter of seconds. There were no wolves, and there was no magic, and the miasma she'd thought would be source of health and protection for the people around her, would just be a way to kill hundreds.

"Was everyone just...deceiving me...? Please...please tell me that's a lie!" Sieglinde sobbed in German. She wanted to run up the stairs to the woman, past the men in costumes, and she had never felt the loss of her feet so acutely before. More tears sprang to her eyes. "_Old grandma, tell me it's not true!_"

"Sieglinde..." The old woman looked surprised. "Why are you crying? It's because of your wonderful intellect, and the perfect environment that allowed you to concentrate on your research, that you were able to create the ultimate chemical weapon!"

She thrust the tiny phial higher, "Don't you see?" She grinned wildly, and Sieglinde flinched backwards. "You've changed history!" Her voice suddenly softened, and she sounded like a totally different person. "You're my loved one that I lost that day..."

Thalia, who had been standing behind Sieglinde, turned to Sebastian. The demon's eyebrows had risen minutely when the witch had spoken. "What did she say?" She croaked.

He glanced at her for a moment. "She said '_my dear daughter_'."

Thirteen years ago, a woman had taken part in a military project. The project revolved around the synthesis of mustard gas: a lethal compound that for 20 years couldn't be produced in mass quantities due to the danger it posed. It wasn't long before a genius scientist discovered a safe way to synthesise it, and the project was declared a success.

One day there was an accident in the factories where the gas was being produced. A leak in one of the pipes caused lethal quantities of mustard gas to flood the interior, killing several people, and maiming more. Amongst wounded was the Elder Witch, and amongst the dead was the scientist she'd fallen in love with.

Months passed, and she realised that she was pregnant with his child. His genes were left inside her, and her lover was brought back to life in a new form: Sieglinde. A daughter with all of her father's intellect, and all she needed was the perfect place and project to focus that genius. In short: a playground. Isolated, controlled, a massive game of make-believe that everyone was in on, from the German government, to her nursemaids. Everyone except the girl in question.

"It's because you were here that you could concentrate on your research!" The witch shouted. "_Our project was successful, Sieglinde!_"

The little girl screamed, a loud, distressed sound that didn't mean anything other than pain. Thalia reached forward to place her hands on her shoulders, when the doors burst open.

"My lady!" Wolfram had heard her screams through the walls. Panicked and worried, he'd been searching for her ever since he'd checked her room and found nothing but her nightclothes and an empty bed. His eyes landed on the dark-haired visitor, and he snarled and stalked forward. "You bastard...!"

"You...deceived me too..." He froze, realising the setting they were in, and what had come to light. Sieglinde's head came up, streaked with tears and hair. "_LIAR!_"

He flinched, feeling the words pierce through his chest like nothing else. He couldn't move. Ciel crouched and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You ruined a child's feet, and threatened her to develop a chemical weapon," he stated. "Is that really the kind of thing a mother would do? _Children are not their parent's tools!_"

In one fluid move, he pulled out his gun and shot at a light overhead. The ensuing shower of sparks caused a distraction long enough for Thalia to grab the smaller girl and the four of them to duck behind the canisters of gas where they couldn't be shot, and start running from the room. Behind them was a wail from the Elder Witch, and shouts for them to stop.

By the time the crowd of wolves reached the elevator they'd used to escape, the only one there was the man in black. The butler, calmly adjusting his white gloves. "I'll go after the lady, I'll leave the rest to you!" Wolfram ordered the men, running past them. The butler let him go with a smirk.

"Now then..."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Outside the village, in the trees, Ciel stopped running and pulled out a flare gun. Thalia watched the bright white flare as it arched high above the forest. The other servants should have spotted the signal, if all the noise hadn't alerted them already. She looked down at the small girl in her arms. She'd stopped crying, probably due to the emotional upheaval and exhaustion. Her eyes were red and ringed with dark circles, and she was shivering.

Ciel turned to look at Sieglinde. "If you leave this place, countless people will try to use you, and you will probably experience worse things than what you saw today," he dropped the flare gun. "I believe it's time to choose whether you still want to go to the outside world..."

Suddenly there was a gun in his hand. "Or if you'd rather get it over with now." Thalia croaked out a sound that could have been his name, but he didn't look at her. "Put her down." She didn't move. "_Now._"

Thalia flinched, her arms tightening instinctively, but she reluctantly lowered the Sieglinde to the ground. "You can turn around if you'd like," he suggested. She did. As she did, she wondered if Ciel would have shot her along with Sieglinde, but left the little girl to bleed out and taken Thalia to be patched up.

Sieglinde choked on a sob, feeling the cold of the night and the helplessness of her situation. "It's horrible that I created that Sulin," she whispered. "I don't know what to believe. I don't want to think. I..." she swallowed hard, tears welling in her eyes. "I just want to disappear!"

Ciel stared at her coldly, contemplatively. "Indeed." There was an loud _click_ as the gun was cocked. Thalia gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. "If you're not going to use your genius, it might as well become good fertiliser for these plants. If you die, you won't have to listen to the screams of the people you could have saved."

To the side, Thalia's eyebrows furrowed as she sighed and wondered, _what kind of fucked up pep-talk...?_

"I thought that if you were able to create the ultimate poison, you would be able to create the ultimate medicine," he smiled. "It would be like magic. People all over the world would be amazed."

_You need help planning these talks, _Thalia sighed, but Sieglinde's eyes widened in awe. "Magic?" She repeated. Apparently she'd forgotten about the gun at her head. "A magical medicine...? Can I really do something like that?"

He shrugged. "Who knows. Green Witch, I'll ask you once again: do you want to run away by dying? Or live and accept the challenge?"

A choice. Sieglinde couldn't think of a time she'd ever been given a choice of what she actually wanted. She had been manipulated all her life by those closest to her, but now she had a chance to escape her former life in two very different ways. She gripped her skirt, and faced the boy in front of her head on. "I...I want to live! I accept the challenge!"

The boy smirked, and pulled the gun away. "That's good. Then let's leave this forest, Sullivan!" There was thump, and they both turned to see the maid kneeling on the ground and exhaling with barely contained relief. "Thalia." The woman raised her head and frowned balefully at the boy. "Take Sullivan. We need to move and rejoin my other servants before they come after us."

Sieglinde wrapped her arms around Thalia's neck, and frowned. "What about Sebastian? What if they use the miasma against him?"

"Don't worry about that," Ciel smirked as they turned to walk into the woods. "My butler is very skilled."

* * *

oOo

* * *

The entire room was flooded with mustard gas. The wolves snickered to themselves. "He'll be dead in no time," he said aloud. "He doesn't have a gas-mas-_urk!_"

He suddenly collapsed to the ground, coughing and choking, his head that contained his mask cut clean from the body of his suit. "Now I understand why you called it '_mustard gas_'," Sebastian commented, stepping out from the cloud of pale, yellow-brown gas. "I did think its scent reminded me of something, but it really is mustard."

The men took steps back as he revealed himself. His face was covered in boils and ulcers, and he had inhaled enough gas to a large number of men, and yet he was still smiling and walking towards them, dragging the burned and drooling body of one of them. "It took me some time to realise because my master doesn't eat it, and my darling appears to be violently allergic to it."

"Why?! Why are you alive?! Has England developed gas-resistant soldiers?!" The rest of their words were lost devolved into screams, and then choking, and then gurgles and gasps for air as Sebastian cut holes in the snouts of their gasmasks.

The demon smiled at the slowly dying men as his face smoothened back to its unnatural beauty. "How could I be the Phantomhive butler if I couldn't even withstand some poison gas?" He studied the corpses on the ground for a moment, and checked the time on his pocket-watch. "Let's see..."

He inhaled deeply, breathing in a large quantity of the gas, and walked off in search of the old witch. She wasn't hard to find. He watched from the door as she ordered a subordinate to take the samples of Sulin upstairs, and haphazardly grabbed pieces of paper that contained the formula. "With this, we can mass-produce it-!"

"_Gah!"_

She jerked in surprise at the sound of a neck being snapped by efficient hands. The man dressed in black stepped out of the shadows, holding the Sulin samples in one hand, and the corpse of her subordinate in the other. "Some people talk about illogical things like 'love'," he commented quietly. "But then they cna rationally sacrifice their relatives." She spun around, backing away quickly. "Humans are really interesting."

A loud clamour rose up, repeating over and over. She knew what that sound meant. "The poisonous gas alarm?! Why...?"

The man exhaled, and a familiar smell burned her nostrils. She clamped her hand over her nose and mouth. "Mustard?!"

"Didn't you like it so much that you were ready to sacrifice the life of your dear daughter for it?" The more he spoke, the more gas flooded the room, until she was choking on it and sinking to the ground. Her lungs and skin burned; an excruciating pain that she remembered. "_This is to thank you for exposing my darling and my master to it_."

* * *

They'd travelled quite far, and Thalia could hear footsteps close by, and then Snake's voice from behind a clump of trees. "_I can smell them over there_! Says Goethe_._"

"Young master!" Bard called out.

"Finally," Ciel said. "As planned, let's split up into two groups and escape. Our retreat plan starts now! Remember, our first priority is getting the lady out of the forest. Bard, Snake, Thalia and I will draw the bulk of their fire. Finny, you, Mey-Rin and Tanaka will care for Sullivan. Is that clear?" The servants nodded in tandem. "Then get to it!"

**I kind of want to write an AU where Ciel, Thalia and Sebastian get called in to investigate the disappearance of the girl in Diabolik Lovers and Thalia is sent in as bait only she's not even that phased because lmao vampires can't hold a candle to a soul-consuming beast of hell. Idk, imagining that is keeping me from lowkey panicking. MY HEART IS DELICATE OKAY. PLEASE REVIEW.  
**


	65. Gunfire and Darkness

**I've actually started work on an M-rated chapter which will be posted separately from this fic because I don't want to have to change the rating after so long so people have to slog through like 50 chapters before they get to the gross smut ya'll don't deserve that. Plus Sebastian's been a v patient demon so clearly he deserves a reward in the form of my asexual ass writing up some sex *insert thumbs up icon here***

**Gunfire and Darkness**

The small battalion of soldiers met at the entrance to the woods. The dogs pawed at the ground, howling and snarling. Wolfram studied the disturbed mud littered with shallow indents of footprints leading in two different directions.

He pulled out a ribbon that belonged to Sullivan, and held it close enough for one of the Dobermans to sniff. It barked and began to strain on its leash in one of the directions, heading deeper into the woods. "The lady went right," he reported.

Grete nodded sharply, waving her arm to commandeer the troops. "Remember, our priority is to retrieve the Green Witch," she snapped. "The main squad led by Wolfram will go there. My team will follow the others." There was a collective shout of compliance, and the battalion split off.

On one of the trails, Finny raced through the forest as fast as his legs could take him, ignoring the branches and bushes that caught at his clothes and scratched the exposed skin of his hands. In his arms, he held on tight to Sieglinde, eyes fixed in the direction of the rendezvous point. Behind him, he could hear the loud barking of dogs, and men yelling in snippets of harsh German. Bullets whizzed past him, some coming dangerously close to hitting him somewhere vital. He couldn't hear Wolfram however, so this wasn't the main battalion. It sounded like Ciel's plan had worked.

The pounding footsteps were getting closer, and he pushed herself a little. A bullet nicked his cheek, but she barely felt it through the adrenalin coursing through his body. In an uncharacteristically calm tone, he spoke, "Lady Sullivan, it will get a bit rough. Close your mouth so that you don't bite your tongue."

Calling upon the strength forced upon him from years of human experimentation, he pushed off at a sprint, speeding up astronomically. Faster than the men, faster than their bullets, he ran and ran until he could see the edge of the forest, and the sharp drop into the river and rocks below. He didn't stop, he kept going until he suddenly skidded to a halt right at the edge. With a heave, he tossed the little girl into the air and turned to face the oncoming attackers.

For a moment Sieglinde hung, suspended in space. She could see the moon shining high above the trees, and the stars, and then something caught her, carrying them both down into the gorge. Thalia had seen one of the generals taking a different route which would place her at the bottom of the gorge with them, close enough to shoot with accuracy. Not wanting to hang around, she ran the other way, leaving Finny, Mey-Rin an Tanaka to deal with the situation in their typically efficient way.

Sieglinde twisted around to look behind them. "Shouldn't we go back for them?"

_Nah, they're probably fine, _was what she would have responded with if she hadn't been out of breath from running, and if her voice still didn't sound like the croak of a dying frog. That was when she heard it: a terrific _bang!_ The sound of trees splintering and falling, being crushed by whatever had been falling. She spared a look behind them. _Okay, probably not as fine as previously thought. _

"What was that?!" Sieglinde screamed, and Thalia shrugged and kept running. Whatever it was, she was certain that the others could handle it, especially if Sebastian was with them.

Once she was certain that they were far enough from the gunfire behind them, Thalia slowed to a stop and considered their surroundings. There wasn't much to be seen through the trees, if she wanted a better look she would need to get higher up, but she didn't feel comfortable about flying in case one of the soldiers happened o be lurking close by and spotted her.

She put Sieglinde down behind a bush. "Stay quiet." Then she scrambled up one of the trees. It was much easier than climbing a wall, and her hands and feet found small crevices and branches easily until she reached the very top.

Above the tree line, the air was calm and clear. In one direction, she could hear the distant sound of gunfire, but she was almost certain everything was under control. In the other direction, she could see the blurry shadow of what looked like a train station. She wasn't even sure if it was still in use, but if it was, then it would make an excellent mode of escape.

As she climbed down from the tree, Finny came crashing through the undergrowth. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes still held a bit of that almost supernatural intensity to them. "Where is the Lady Sullivan?"

"I'm here!" The younger girl answered as Thalia scooped her up from the ground.

"There's a train station not over there," she said, transferring the lady into his arms, and pointing in the direction of it. "Take her there. If it's still running, we can escape on it."

"What about you?" Finny asked.

"I'm going to tell Ciel about it," she replied.

Thalia flew back in the direction of the gunfire, hovering just above the trees, just high enough to see what was going on without being fully noticeable herself. _Is that a giant cannon?!_ She stared dumbfounded at the gigantic metal structure that looked like a mobile cannon. Surrounding it were foot soldiers that fired a hail of bullets while the cannon reloaded.

It was slow, she noticed. Something that big and dangerous had to be, but it was also heavily armoured and well defended.

She looked down and spotted Ciel and the others, but not Sebastian. It seemed that the general consensus amongst them was to run. None of them had been expecting this monstrosity of a weapon, and while poisonous gas was one thing, this was a very different threat altogether. As she prepared to drop down and rejoin the group, she saw Ciel fall at the same time that the barrel of the tank seemed to lock on its target.

Thalia knew, on an intellectual and rational level, that no matter where Sebastian was, the demon wouldn't allow Ciel to die before the contract was out, and therefore her panic (like most of the panics before it) was mostly unnecessary. Still, in the few seconds it took for her to land and for the smoke from the blast to clear, her heart seemed to grind to a halt.

Sebastian looked down at the bruised and bloodied face of his charge with almost detached concern. "You're pretty battered," he stated, taking in the damage with careful efficiency. "You went as far as to dress up and this is the result," he smirked. "You should have just left everything to me."

Ciel gritted his teeth at the pain from his prodding. "You should have come earlier then," he gritted out. He caught sight of Thalia, and his eyes narrowed. "The Lady Sullivan?"

"Safe," Thalia replied, breathing steadily in spite of the rapid pounding of her heart. The number of times she had stared death in the face, or seen someone else do that was getting to be a bit much… "There's a railroad nearby that we could use to escape. Finny's taking the lady towards it."

"Hurry up!" The new man that she did not know yelled. "There's another one coming!"

"What about the suline?" Ciel asked Sebastian as they ran through the woods for safety.

"It's here," he held up a small, plain black case. "I took all the samples."

"In that case, it seems that the only order of business left to us is to escape. Bard, Snake!" He turned to the men. "Go to the railroad with Diederich! Thalia saved us some time and a signal flare."

"Roger!"

"Diederich, you will carry the suline!" The almost carelessly tossed case of incredibly concentrated poisonous gas landed in his hands, at which he promptly began to protest. "I trust you," Ciel stated coolly, cutting him off.

Thalia stepped forward. "You should go with Bard and Snake," she said. She wanted to add _you need a steady area at the very least, if not medical attention_, but her voice gave out. Ciel regarded her for a moment, and then one of his many bruises and nicks must have throbbed because he hissed and nodded.

Once he had been passed off to Snake, he fixed both Thalia and Sebastian with a serious glare. "In that case, the two of you will do something about this weapon," he stated. "That is an order!"

"Yes, my lord." As the others disappeared into the trees, Thalia turned to stare at the looming threat as it crashed through the forest trees. She shivered in the cool night air, feeling simultaneously terrified and incredibly calmed by the demon at her side. She turned to look at him, and saw that he was smiling back at her and his eyes were glowing. "Shall we?"

Sebastian's grin widened when his darling placed her smaller, calloused hand in his, and he quickly swept her into his arms and jumped out of the way as the Panzer came rolling towards them. Windows on the sides of the tank pushed open to reveal machine guns, which fired a violent flurry of bullets at them. "It's able to attack from a 360 degree range," he noted. He ran at the body of the tank and landed a solid kick, and while the impact left a very clear imprint of his shoe behind, the hull remained unbroken.

"It must be made of reinforced steel," Thalia said, just as the infantry appeared from the side. The demon dodged the oncoming hail, and sought cover behind several trees, cradling Thalia closer to his chest. "It must have a weak spot somewhere." Everything had an Achilles heel of some kind, and nothing that big could be reinforced all the way through and still be able to move at the speed that it did.

"Do you have an idea?" Sebastian asked, amused by the adorably contemplative furrow of her brow. Thalia nodded firmly, and he set her down, leaving one hand resting lightly on the small of her back. "Very well, where do we start?"

She reached into the pockets of her skirt and pulled out the cans and cherry bombs Bard had given her. "The infantry." She searched her pockets for some matches. "I think it may be built like a modern car," she blinked when Sebastian produced a box from somewhere on his person. "The engines and fuel systems are at the bottom, so the top may be made of thinner metal than the body."

The arm on her back curled fully around her waist. "Will you test this theory?"

Running on adrenaline, and feeling uncharacteristically bold, she peered up at him coyly from underneath her lashes. "That depends. Will you keep me safe?"

There was a loud smattering on gunfire, and the demon grinned wider. "After you."

Unfurling her wings, Thalia soared into the air above the confused and shocked foot soldiers. Their confusion soon turned to horror when the lit bombs in her arms fell to the ground, the flames alighting on their clothes and skin, and causing the gunpowder in their firearms to explode violently. Amidst the screaming, burning men, Sebastian drew the attention of the main cannon while Thalia darted out of sight and landed right on top of the panzer.

The top of the tank did look and feel far more delicate compared to the rest of the body. She tapped at the metal with the heel of her boot, and heard a high sound that indicated a thinner sheet of metal, as opposed to the duller, quieter sound of thick metal. Satisfied, she pulled out a cherry bomb from her pocket and lit it, and quickly tossed it into the open window of the tank. She felt the vibrations of the canon firing, which masked the vibrations of the bomb going off, but she wasn't foolish enough to assume that would kill everyone that was inside, but it would be enough to destroy most of the control systems they had.

Sebastian landed beside her, the barrel of the cannon bent beyond suitable repair, and arched an eyebrow. "It's just as you said," he reached down and tore a hole right through the metal, revealing the charred interior full of injured, but alive officers. "The metal here is much thinner and softer."

Disoriented and panicked, but still with enough of her wits about her, General Hilde screamed and immediately fired the gun she had on her at the familiar face peering in from the hole in the panzer ceiling. The bullets hit him in the forehead, snapping his head back and breaking his neck at point blank. She heard a rough screech, and realised that the other English maid also had to be on the roof as well.

Before she could reload however, the man began to giggle. His head snapped forward with a crack and a huff, and he was still grinning widely, revealing sharp teeth biting down on empty bullets. "You look just like mice caught in a trap," he laughed.

"Y-You're a monster…" Hilde shook with a strange, encompassing terror that did not allow her to scream. Not until the English woman's face joined his own, and several lit cans dropped into the small space.

"Since you look so pathetic, the master decided to present you with special supplies prepared by the household's chef. By all means," he grinned cruelly. "_Enjoy them._"

From a safe distance away, the two watched as the tank went up in flames, the sound of the explosion not quite managing to hide the agonised screams of those inside. Streaks of fire and burning metal went flying into the air like fireworks, and Thalia commented as much. She blinked, surprised at the callousness of her own response, but when Sebastian kissed her, she decided to put it entirely out of her mind.


	66. Steam Engines

**I'm back with a new chapter! Also, as I post this I should also be posting the first chapter of that Diabolik Lovers crossover I said I'd do. It's called Diabolik Angel (bc coming up with titles is harder than previously expected). Anyway, please enjoy!**

**Steam Engines**

The two kissed for what felt like an unreasonably long time. Long, because there was that niggling reminder at the back of Thalia's mind that they weren't out of the woods yet – both physically and metaphorically.

A raspy giggle bubbled up in her throat at the unexpected pun, and she pulled back. Sebastian smiled down at her fondly, one hand threading gently through the short tangle of her hair. "Something amusing, darling?" Thalia shook her head, pressing her smile against the fabric of his jacket. Sebastian was warm and solid, and he smelled like gunfire and blood. Thalia wondered what it said about her, that she found the scent so soothing. The demon sighed, running long, gunpowder dusted fingers through her hair. "Ridiculous…"

Ensconced as they were in their own little romantic bubble, neither of them immediately noticed the figures perched on a tree behind them. Bright, chartreuse eyes watched them from the leafy branches, one set gleaming in excitement.

"Hey, hey Mr. Rudgar," the smaller shinigami chirped, nearly swinging off the branch with the force of his excitement. "What do you think will happen next? _I _think that-!"

The other shinigami silenced him with a groan. "We can discuss this later! First we should think of a way to get rid of that demon."

"Do we have to?" The smaller shinigami, whose name was Sascha, whined. "Besides, he looks pretty preoccupied already. I doubt he'll be much trouble right now."

"His master isn't in the vicinity, and the presence of his Mate is likely to increase the potential chances of violence occurring," Rudgar replied brusquely. "Who is she anyway?"

"Someone with an interesting background apparently," Sascha replied, flipping through the notebook he'd been holding. "Biologically Thalia Dalles-Burnett, registered as Thalia Hawthorne. According to the reports, she should never have been born." He closed the page, on which a large black question-mark had been stamped over her Date of Death. The previous date had been scribbled out.

Balanced on her tiptoes, Thalia laughed against Sebastian's mouth as he nipped playfully at her bottom lip. Her eyes fluttered open, still grinning widely. Sebastian nuzzled at the shell of her ear, his own smile curling his lips. "Don't look now darling, but I think we're being watched."

She blinked, and scanned the trees, before spotting something moving in the branches of one. There were two men up there! Though they were unfamiliar, the dapper suits, the glasses, and the strange machinery made her eyes widen in surprised recognition. "Shinigami?!"

"She's spotted us!" Sascha commented with some surprise. "Is that because of her bond with the demon?" Shinigami were easy to spot if the creature doing the spotting happened to have one foot in the proverbial grave, or apparently if they happened to be bonded to a creature from hell. Sascha swung his legs a little faster. "Are we getting rid of the demon or not?"

Mr. Rudgar assessed the situation, and then checked his watch – a complicated timepiece. He grimaced and shook his head. "It's almost time to collect the next ones."

Sascha hummed, and then waved at the couple cheerily. With that, the two death gods disappeared. Thalia blinked. "They're gone," she spoke with some surprise. "I expected them to fight us."

"They always appear when people have died," Sebastian said, sounding slightly put out, but mostly nonchalant about what had just occurred. "At least they don't feel the need to get in our way like the English ones." He touched her throat carefully, eyes narrowing. "You shouldn't be talking so much."

She ducked her head and kissed his fingers. "Then let's hurry." She wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up again, and began running in the direction of the train.

As it turned out, the actual entrance to the train was located in a bunker and, due the former party, they only had to walk through the smoking, blood-and-ash stained shell of what was left. Thalia could hear the deafening rumble of the train moving. She could also hear the nearly muffled sound of shouting and gunshots. Who was shooting? And who was being shot at?

They came out of the tunnel into where the tracks travelled through the trees. The train was in sight now, as well as the shooter: it was another one of the maids, dressed differently this time, and bleeding profusely as she shot at the passengers on the back of the steadily moving train. Sebastian shifted her to the crook of his elbow, as though she weighed as much as Ciel. "Oh my, it looks like some food escaped from the oven. Darling, would you care to do the honours?"

Thalia produced a weapon, a blade about as long as her lower arm, and as soon as they were close enough to the bleeding general, she slit her throat. Likely it was all the adrenaline from the fight, the proximity to Sebastian, and the fact that the woman had been a compliant in the abuse and cruel treatment of a child, but at that moment Thalia felt absolutely no remorse for what she'd done. She would later feel a small twinge of regret for having killed at all, but she would justify it, and move on.

The woman slid off the knife with a slick noise, and crumpled to the ground. Blood from her artery covered the knife, her hands, her dress, as well as Sebastian who didn't look particularly annoyed by that. The demon smirked proudly. He wanted to kiss the bloodstains off her fingers, but this would not be the time for such actions. They had other matters to attend to.

For example, "Is that Wolfram?" The hulking man lay on the tracks, a bullet wound in his abdomen just to the upper right of his navel. Was he even still alive?

Sebastian blinked at the man. He was. Riddled with scars and gunshots, and barely breathing, but alive. No matter, he would bleed out soon anyway.

"We should take him." The demon blinked up at his Mate, and she gestured towards the rapidly moving train. "Sieglinde will need someone to take care of her once we leave. Unless you want that responsibility as well."

He didn't. She'd raised a valid point. "You don't need to convince me, the young master already ordered me to do that. Besides, I asked you to not speak," he sighed, grabbing the half-dead man as carefully as one can grab a half-dead man with one arm. Thalia made a playfully apologetic smile, and pantomimed locking her mouth shut. He chuckled, he can't help it, it has been a very trying few days and he'll happily devour whatever pleasures he can get now that it's over.

By the time they've both landed on the train they're the only ones in high spirits compared to everyone else. Thalia easily rationalized it in her head as Sebastian set her down gently. Yes they had survived being blown up by a tank, and yes she had just brutally murdered someone, but at least this whole nightmare was almost over, and all they had to do was ride this train out of the woods while making sure Wolfram didn't die. That seemed simple enough, right?

Everyone quickly gathered around Wolf. Finny let go of Sieglinde so that she could crawl to his side. The man stirred, and his eyes opened just enough to the see the crowd of blurrily familiar faces above him. "I…"

One of the faces smirked. "A butler isn't allowed to die before their master. At least, that's what my senior told me."

Being the only one with working medical knowledge, and hands that weren't trembling a mile a minute, Thalia quickly cut the fabric of Wolfram's clothes to expose the bullet wound to the air. It was small, and no bones had been in the way, but it was likely that some organs had likely been punctured. If she had the time, equipment, and adequate setting, she would have removed the bullet first before suturing the wound shut with sterilized needles. Unfortunately, none of that was available at the moment. All they had were some knives, gauze, and an open furnace.

She grimaced and began cleaning the blood from her knife with her skirt. "He's losing a lot of blood fast," she stated. "Finny! Heat up this knife until it's red! Mey-Rin, we need water and cloth!"

"Yes!" The blonde gardener took the suitably clean knife, and held it in the flames of the furnace, while the maid disappeared into the train as fast as she could.

Sieglinde looked on with wide, confused eyes. "What are you going to do to him?!" Thalia didn't answer, focusing on compressing the wound with a torn piece of Wolfram's shirt to staunch the flow of blood.

After a few minutes, he gardener let out a shout, and pulled the red hot knife out of the fire by the smoking handle. "It's ready!"

"The cloth goes in his mouth. Keep your tongue as far away from your teeth as possible. Finny, Sebastian, please hold him down. This going to hurt." Thalia reached for the man, and Ciel tapped her arm.

He narrowed his eyes. "Let Sieglinde do it." At Thalia conflicted expression, he raised his eyebrows. "He is her servant, isn't he? A master should care about the welfare of those who work for him."

_Alright but you do realise that she's nine years' old, right? What do you want her to do, just plunge the fiery knife into his stomach-? Oh my god that just happened, that was unexpected._ There was a lot less screaming than she expected, but that was likely because he'd passed out after about 10 seconds. In his defence, stopping blood loss by literally burning the wound shut will do that to a person.

Once the sizzling and smoke had stopped, Sebastian wrapped up the angry red wound with bandages. "He's stopped bleeding. If he gets proper care, he will probably be fine." Sieglinde was breathing heavily, her hands covered in blood. Sebastian placed a comforting hand on her back. "You carried out your job perfectly, lady."

She stared up at him blankly, and then, as though the weight of everything had finally collapsed on top of her, she buried her face in Wolfram's chest and cried loudly. Thalia exhaled loudly, while Sebastian looked amused by Ciel's wince. The boy grunted. "We can't take him to a hospital, they'll find us. Give us a place to hide, Diedrich."

Diedrich scowled and walked off muttering. "And I suppose there's no use saying 'no' is there. Jeez, like father like son…"

"I must admit, I was surprised when you ordered me to pick him up," Sebastian spoke quietly to Ciel as he draped his jacket over thin shoulders.

Ciel hissed. "In the real world, there are monsters worse than werewolves," he replied. "She will need someone to look after her. Plus," he stared at the crying girl. "She's my insurance. In case someone tries to kill me because I know too much."

The demon nodded, a knowing smile on his lips. His Mate had gone to curl up next to one of the crates and was quickly falling asleep. "I see. Though, why bother with insurance when you have me? You are a worrier, young master."

Ciel's laugh was short, bitter, and mocking. "Don't kid me. You're the one I trust least of all."

oOo

The hiding place Diedrich led them to turned out to be his own manor, which was much better than anyone could have hoped for. At least they'd be able to spend the night in the warmth and comfort of a modern day English manor house, and not a dark, damp, century old castle.

Doctors were called to take care of Wolfram, and the man was taken away in a stretcher while Sieglinde looked on worriedly from the comfort of Thalia's arms. She had become rather withdrawn ever since the train had exited the border of the forest, and she'd seen what the world outside looked like.

Now Thalia was in the bathtub, legs outstretched and hands soapy. Sieglinde sat in the V of her legs, her hair twisted up and out of her face and the water. The little girl splashed gently in the soapy, bubbly water, while Thalia did her best to scrub off the dirt and grime of the day. The baths were ornate and looked almost pristine. She'd never bathed in such opulence before, and the steam rising from the bathtub was doing her throat a world of good.

Done with her upper body, Thalia tapped Sieglinde's thigh. "Leg please." Sieglinde obediently lifted her leg out of the water. Thalia had never seen a bound foot before, although she'd heard stories and her imagination had come up with some fairly awful images, but it was worse seeing it for real. Tenderly, she rubbed the soap into her skin, taking care not to handle her feet roughly. "Does it ever hurt?"

The little girl shrugged. "Sometimes," she replied. She splashed some more. "Wolfram was there. When it happened." Thalia nodded quietly. "Do you think he will be alright?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," she said firmly. "He has to come back to take care of you, doesn't he? Wolfram doesn't seem like the kind of man to leave a lady behind."

"You think so?"

"I _know_ so. He's gotta protect you, right? Plus, he seems a lot like a big guard dog! I bet if anyone tries to hurt you, he'll tear them apart! Like this!" She pretended to bite Sieglinde while the girl squealed and splashed around in delight. Her squeals morphed into laughter when Thalia began blowing raspberries against her cheeks. Water splashed over the side of the tub, soaking everything within a foot of it.

A knock at the door alerted them to someone else's presence. "Lady Sullivan, Thalia, you've both been in there longer than necessary, and you're making a lot of noise," Sebastian scolded.

"Sorry!" They called back, sounding like a group of barely contrite schoolgirls. They caught each other's eyes and tried to hold back their laughter.

The butler sounded amused. "I should hope so. Do I have to come in there and assist you?"

At that, they both sputtered with laughter, which Thalia quickly tried to stem by sliding herself underwater, which brought Sieglinde down with her. The maid imagined Sebastian listening to them, rolling his eyes, and walking away. The two girls listened in silence as his footsteps padded further and further away.

Then Sieglinde snickered. "I bet he would have liked to help you."

Thalia dissolved into snorting giggles.


	67. AUTHOR NOTE (ft PORN)

**YET ANOTHER A/N BUT FT. PORN THIS TIME! **

**EVERYONE, GATHER ROUND BECAUSE THIS IS AN UBER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!  
**

**I, YOUR FIC-WRITER INDIGO, HAVE WRITTEN SMUT!**

**AND NOT JUST ANY SMUT, I'M TALKING GOOD SMUT, STRAIGHT UP PORN SMUT, LEMON (do we still use that term? we do? right) SMUT. **

**However I didn't want to add it to this story and then have to up the rating because of one chapter that occurs after 60+ chapters so I'm making it a separate thing. If ya'll want me to write more gross smut then hmu and I'll see what I can do. **

**Love, Indigo**


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